Difficult Tests
by daxy
Summary: Horatio’s past comes back to haunt him, when the case of his parents death is re-opened, and he also finds out that he is very sick. Frank tries to forget his birthday.--SLASH--6th story in my H/E Universe--FULL SUMMARY INSIDE
1. Chapter 1

**Summary: Horatio's past comes back to haunt him, when the case of his parents death is re-opened, and he also finds out that he is very sick. The team tries to solve the murder of Judge Ratner. Calleigh and Ryan have some problems with their baby. Frank tries to forget his birthday, and doesn't want a birthday party.-- **

**AN: This story will probably be quite long. Because there are many things happening with the team members and it's a long process. **

**-I-**

**Sunday, 23rd June. 2008. 09:30**

The triplets were now 13 weeks old. They were able to lie on their stomach and hold their head up. Callum had already found out how to roll over on his back. Valera also didn't have to feed them as much as before. The triplets were also starting to concentrate on things they hadn't noticed before. They could spend several minutes looking at a microwave, oven or something else. Valera was still on maternity leave, and would be for another six months. Then the triplets would stay at a day-care center for babies. Jason was back in the morgue with Alexx, and he was becoming a good ME. Who wouldn't be if they had Alexx to teach them?

Valera spent her days playing with the babies, and when they slept she caught up on some household chores or relaxing. All the triplets had Valera's brown hair and Jason's blue eyes. According to the team, they all looked just a little bit more like Jason. But they were sure that their personality would be just like Valera's.

Valera was trying to give Caleb and Jan a bath. Something they didn't like. Jan screamed as high as she could, while Caleb whined and kicked with his arms and legs. Callum was already dry and lay on a blanket, looking at his siblings.

"Please." Valera begged, "Just three minutes."

As an answer, Caleb started crying. Valera sighed and picked him up. That's when Jan stopped screaming. Valera looked down at her daughter. Jan looked right back.

"Oh I get it! You want to be alone huh?" Valera asked smiling, "Alright."

She put Caleb down next to Callum and started bathing Jan. Jan seemed perfectly happy and when she was done, she put Jan down and picked Caleb up. Caleb didn't make a sound as he was in the bathtub and six minutes later. They were all clean and happy. After a while, they got hungry. And after that, they slept. Just as Valera was about to relax on the couch. The front door opened and Jason announced that he was home.

"I finally figured out why they had taking a bath." Valera said as Jason sat down next to her.

"And?" Jason smiled and kissed her.

He had been working for a few hours at the morgue with Alexx, to try to catch up on the things he had missed while he had been on a short paternity leave with Valera the first two weeks after the triplets were born.

"They want to be alone in the tub." Valera said, "I can't take all three of them on the same times, so I took Callum first. Then I tried to wash Caleb and Jan. They cried and screamed. So when I picked Caleb out, Jan stopped. Suddenly it was fun to take a bath. Then I switched and Caleb was happy to be alone too."

"Huh, good. Now we know what to do." Jason smiled.

"How was work?" Valera asked.

"Fun. Alexx and I boiled a head today." Jason grinned.

Valera looked at him with wide eyes. Although she worked with all sorts of cases all day, all she had to do was to test DNA. She never had to watch the actual body or the autopsy.

"You boiled a head?" She asked.

"Yes, it was good. That way the team could figure out what kind of murder weapon the man had been killed with." Jason grinned.

"I always thought they were joking when they said that Alexx likes to boil heads." Valera said, "And then what?"

"Then we cut him open." Jason shrugged, "I suddenly feel liked eating Kebab."

"Crazy man." Valera sighed, "Frank's birthday is coming up."

"Yeah, the 27th June." Jason said, "He doesn't want a birthday party."

"What?!" Valera exclaimed, "Come on! It's not everyday that you become 50!"

"That's exactly what Horatio told him."

"Ah I get it! He doesn't want people to know that he's 50." Valera chuckled, "Poor man."

"Maybe a baby would make him feel better." Jason suggested.

Natalia had had a miscarriage about three months ago. Nobody had known about the baby, but it had still been hard to deal with. Natalia and Frank hadn't discussed having a baby after that. However, things were still perfect between them.

"Nat wants to wait." Valera said, "So that won't happen."

"Alright, so how about a big party then? With lots of gifts." Jason smiled, "We have to celebrate him."

"It has to be a surprise party then." Valera smirked evilly, "At the PD… He won't know what hit him."

**-I-**

**11:15**

Eric tried not to laugh as he dragged the mattress towards the swimming pool that he and Horatio had just got in their backyard. They had hired a company to make a pool, and they had finished four days ago. Now it was filled with fresh water and ready for someone to swim in it. It wasn't very big, but big enough to swim around in. Horatio was sleeping on the mattress that Eric was dragging. Eric resisted the urge to jump on, since he was only lying there in his underwear. Eric stopped by the poolside and started pushing the mattress instead. As quietly as he could. Horatio didn't stir as the mattress went down in the water and started floating around. Eric smirked and went to the back porch to just wait. He had a beer and a comfortable chair; he could wait for a long time.

And he did have to wait for a long time. It took two hours for Horatio to finally roll over and fall into the water. As soon as he came in contact with the water, he woke up and swam for the surface.

"Jesus Christ!" He exclaimed and started swimming for the poolside.

Eric was laughing like a maniac. Tears ran down his cheeks. When he saw that Horatio was on his way out of the pool, he ran towards him and jumped in. Then he pulled Horatio back down in the pool.

"Good Morning." Eric grinned and tried to swim away from Horatio.

"I'm going to show you a good morning." Horatio warned playfully and started chasing Eric in the pool.

Eric stuck his tongue out and swam towards one of the corners. Just as Horatio was about to grab him, he dove under him and swum away.

"So you want to play huh?" Horatio asked.

Eric nodded and grinned. He dove under Horatio again, but this time Horatio managed to grab his hand and pull him to the surface. He then wrapped his legs around his waist and dragged Eric towards him.

"What are you going to do now?" He asked, grinning.

Eric thought for a second and then kissed Horatio deeply. Horatio didn't loose focus though, so once they parted. Eric was still trapped.

"I'm not fooled that easily, Eric." Horatio smirked.

"Oh please mister, let me go." Eric chuckled, "I will do anything for you if you let me go."

"Is that a promise?" Horatio winked.

Eric chuckled and nodded. Horatio let him go, but was quick to follow as Eric got out of the pool. As soon as they were on the porch. Eric took off and ran towards the front door. Horatio ran the same way on the outside of the house. When he reached the front door, he couldn't find Eric. "Eric? Come out come out, wherever you are." Horatio smirked.

He heard someone giggle and saw Eric standing in the kitchen. Horatio opened the door and ran inside; he almost caught Eric as Eric ran towards the porch again. This time though, Eric didn't have time to hide, since Horatio was to close behind. They ran three laps around the house, until Horatio suddenly stopped. Eric stopped when he noticed that Horatio was not behind him. He started walking back and expected Horatio to jump up in front of him.

"I got you!" Horatio yelled from behind as he wrapped his arms around Eric and they fell down on the grass.

"What did you do?" Eric asked.

"I just went the other way." Horatio shrugged and kissed Eric deeply.

"Let's move this to the bedroom." Eric smirked.

Before Horatio could respond, Waldo and Rascall, their two Grand Danois decided to join the game and started licking their faces. Waldo and Rascall had just become one-year-old on the 20th June.

**-I-**

**13:45**

"Cooper!" Ryan yelled.

Cooper ignored him and continued fighting for the stick with Ryan and Calleigh's dog. Ryan and Calleigh were having lunch at their house with Cooper. It had been a long time since Cooper had been with just the two of them. Two weeks ago, Ryan and Calleigh had bought a Bull Mastiff. A female dog, her name was Kendra and she was eight months old. The previous owner had had a hard time selling Kendra, because most people wanted an eight-week old puppy instead. But not Calleigh and Ryan, they were happy to have a dog that already knew that it wasn't okay to pee inside the house.

"Ryan, you know Cooper is never going to give up." Calleigh chuckled and rubbed her belly.

She was 33 weeks pregnant and showing quite a lot. Riley, the baby girl in her belly, was a kicker. She kicked all the time. But Calleigh thought it was fun, except when she wanted to sleep.

"Not until he either wins or loose." Ryan chuckled and sat down next to his wife. Calleigh grabbed his hand and squeezed it softly. Ryan smiled at her and they kissed softly.

"Hey, no kissing while I'm here." Cooper said as he joined them on the porch.

"Did you win?" Calleigh asked.

"Nah, Kendra is too strong for me." Cooper shrugged, "So are you guys exited? It's only seven weeks left."

Cooper grinned widely. They knew that he was exited. Calleigh and Ryan thought a long time about whom they wanted as the godmother and godfather to their child. They had decided to choose Frank and Natalia. First, they had picked Horatio and Alexx, then changed and then changed again. Now they had finally decided. Therefore, even though Cooper wouldn't be the child's godfather he was exited to be called Uncle Dan or Uncle Cooper. Ryan and Cooper had become very good friends during the last year and therefore Cooper would be like an uncle to the child.

"Of course we're exited." Ryan smiled, "Diapers, puke and no sleep. Doesn't that sound like heaven?"

"Sure!" Cooper laughed, "But think about the angel you will have instead of the diapers, puke and no sleep."

"We are." Calleigh smiled.

In just a few weeks, Cooper had started to think of becoming a father himself. Though he knew that he wasn't ready yet. But someday he would want to have a child. And he would want to get married. But until he found the right girl, he was satisfied by hanging out with his friends and their children.

"So Cooper, how about you and I give Kendra a bath?" Ryan asked.

Cooper looked at Kendra who was sitting by Calleigh's side.

"I don't think she will like that." Cooper said.

"Of course she will. Dogs love to be washed." Ryan said confidently.

Calleigh snorted. She had told Ryan that some dogs wouldn't like being washed, and even if they did. Once they thought they were finished they would shake their whole body and throw water at everyone else. However, Ryan was determined to give Kendra a bath. Calleigh didn't believe for one second that it would work.

"Okay, let's wash her." Cooper shrugged.

Ryan smiled and brought Kendra to the bathroom. He managed to get her down in the tub and then started the water. Cooper joined him, while Calleigh watched from the door.

"Okay, what do we do first?" Cooper asked.

"First we just pour water over her." Ryan said.

Kendra stayed still while Ryan poured water over her. However, as soon as he was done, she jumped out of the bath and shook her body. Ryan and Cooper covered their faces.

"Told ya!" Calleigh laughed from the doorway.

Ryan was determined to get Kendra completely clean though, so he managed to get her down in the tub again and start shampooing her. Kendra stood still. Then Cooper washed the shampoo away and Ryan got ready to dry her with a towel. However as soon as Cooper stopped, Kendra shook her body again. Only this time she made sure she got all the water off her. Ryan and Cooper yelped and tried to get Kendra to stop. Three minutes later, she was completely dry, while Cooper and Ryan were completely soaked.

Kendra jumped out of the tub and walked towards Calleigh. Calleigh laughed and went to the living room. While Cooper and Ryan started cleaning the bathroom.

"At least walls don't shake." Cooper sighed and started drying the walls.

Ryan sighed and joined him. He should have listened to Calleigh.

**-I-**

**16:00**

Frank and Natalia had invited Eric and Horatio over to their house for dinner. The kids were out of the house, so the grown-ups could talk about everything and even drink a little bit.

"So Frank, your 50-years-old in just four days." Horatio smirked, "Exited?"

"Horatio, in one year you will join me." Frank smirked back.

Horatio chuckled and said no more. He didn't like to be reminded of his age either.

"Men." Natalia sighed and rolled her eyes.

"What's wrong with men?" Eric asked.

"You are all stupid." Natalia teased, "Well not stupid, it's just that women are smarter."

Eric chuckled, "Not all the time."

"Oh please, don't start giving me a lecture about all the big scientists throughout the history have been men. That's simply because a woman never got the chance to prove that she could also make a phone or a radio, you know all those stuff."

"Did a woman ever try?" Eric asked.

"You did not just say that a woman never even tried?" Natalia gasped, "Eric Delko, are you doing this on purpose?"

"Yes!" Eric laughed.

If there was one thing you shouldn't argue about with Natalia, then it was the difference between men and women. She only joked when she claimed that women were smarted. What she wanted was a society where they were all treated fairly. Who didn't?

"Can you kids please calm down?" Frank said, "No matter what happens in the world. I will always be the best."

Everybody laughed, even Frank.

"Seriously though Frank. What do you want for your birthday?" Horatio asked.

"A vacation." Frank said, "You don't have to give me anything Horatio."

Horatio wanted to give his best friend something though. And he wouldn't stop asking Frank what he wanted until he got an answer.

"You can keep on asking me for days… I won't tell you." Frank smirked.

Horatio shrugged and gave up for the moment. Then Natalia and Eric decided it was time to look at baby pictures of themselves. They moved into the living room. Apparently Natalia and Eric had brought pictures of Frank and Horatio and of course themselves as babies. Frank and Horatio gaped when they saw the pictures of them as babies.

"Aw, look t that cute little baby." Natalia smiled as she saw a picture of Horatio as a newborn lying in his mother's arms.

"Who would have known he would grow up to be a tough cop?" Eric grinned, "Is that Frank?"

Natalia nodded and gave Eric a photo of a crying Frank Tripp, at the age of 1.

"He had tripped on something once again apparently." Natalia said, remembering when Frank had told her about the photo.

Frank sighed and hid his head in his hands.

"Tripp tripped!" Eric laughed, "Can I keep it?"

"No!" Frank exclaimed and snatched the photo from him, "I'm going to burn this."

Eric laughed along with Natalia. Then Natalia showed a picture of herself as a six months old baby, held by her father.

"Aww, already with that beautiful hair." Horatio smiled.

"Thank you. I thought you didn't like looking at baby pictures." Natalia said.

"I don't like looking at pictures of me." Horatio said, "Oh look! Eric has high heels!"

Eric blushed and tried to hide the photo of him as a three year old. However, Natalia grabbed it before he could.

"Aww, that is so cute!" She grinned.

"I was bored one day and found my mom's closet." Eric explained, "I was just a boy."

"And already dressing in women's clothes." Frank teased.

Eric shrugged. Then he showed a photo of Horatio as a two year old. Horatio was riding a bicycle for the first time.

"Look at all those freckles!" Natalia smiled, "Have they all disappeared now?"

"No, he still has some of them." Eric said.

Horatio blushed and joined Frank in trying to hide his face in his hands.

**-I-**

**22:15**

Eric collapsed on the couch and started snoring before Horatio even entered the living room. Both Eric and Horatio were tired, and they needed to get some sleep, since they had to work tomorrow. Horatio carried Eric to the bedroom and undressed him before lying down next to him. He sighed, as he knew that he wouldn't be getting much sleep. It seemed as if his old sleeping problems were coming back. He hadn't had difficulty sleeping for over three months, but not it seemed as if he was slipping back to old habits again. Eric rolled over and wrapped his arms around Horatio's waist. Horatio snuggled against him and closed his eyes. However two hours later, he woke up and couldn't go back to sleep. He climbed out of the bed and went to watch some TV. All he saw was the same news repeatedly, for over two hours. Then he tried to get some sleep again. But his body and mind just wouldn't let him. For the rest of the night he stayed awake, just listening to Eric snoring.

_**TBC…**_

**AN: Please review!**


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: I have decided to stop writing what year it is in my fan fictions. So from now I will only write the day and month, the year is irrelevant. That way it's easier for me to jump forward in time, and not having to think about writing a story that takes place three years in the future or something like that. So just, remember that the year is irrelevant, no matter what year it has been in my previous stories. **

**-I-**

**Monday 24th**** June. 08:00**

Frank usually didn't want his workdays to end. But now he did. Almost everybody he had met from the parking lot to his desk had reminded him that he was three days away from becoming 50. And they all smiled, as if becoming 50 was something good. Well, Frank did think it was good. It would be better if he became 50 without anybody knowing it. As he sat down by his desk, he sighed and buried himself in paperwork. That way people wouldn't bother him and tell him how close his birthday was. But there was one person who would remind him, even if Frank threatened to kill him.

"Exited about turning 50 Frankie?" Cooper asked as he appeared behind his back.

Frank rolled his eyes and turned around, facing Cooper. Cooper was grinning widely.

"One day you will turn 50 as well." Frank muttered.

"Yeah, but by that time you will be… what? 70? 72?" Cooper asked.

"Cooper if you don't stop reminding… I won't invite you to my birthday party."

"Oh so you are having one?" Cooper asked, although he already knew the answer.

Frank wasn't going to have a party. However, everyone else would. Frank sighed and turned around, facing his desk.

"I heard that cops that turn 50 will get a little extra pay at the end of the month. Just the month that their birthday is." Cooper smirked, "One would think that they would be just as nice to those who turned 20, 30, and 40. But now they choose the ones who turn 50."

"I'm not getting extra pay." Frank sighed.

"Oh, I see you have checked everything up before your birthday." Cooper grinned, "Did you check all the lifestyle changes as well. You know gray hair, well in your case it won't change."

"Cooper." Frank warned.

"But I'm talking about wrinkles if you don't already have them. And the sex-life! Oh, the sex will be terrible from now on. You're going to miss being in my age."

"When I was in your age, I wasn't a virgin." Frank smirked evilly.

"Good one. But I'm not a virgin." Cooper chuckled, "Anyway, early-congratulations Frank."

With that said, Cooper left and Frank turned back to his paperwork. Why did he have to turn 50 on the same day that he was working? Why not on a Sunday? But no! He was turning 50 on Thursday. Life was hell.

**-I-**

**09:45**

"Are you done tormenting Frank?" Ryan asked as he joined Cooper in the AV-lab.

"I was there over an hour ago, so yeah, I'm done. For today." Cooper said, "What brings you here Mr. Never-going-out-again?"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Once you become a dad, you have to stay home for at least 18 years." Cooper said.

"You seem to know a lot of things that you have no experience of." Ryan said, "Anyway, I brought the video tapes."

Ryan handed Cooper almost eight video tapes that Natalia had given him at first. It was videos of Frank. From the age of four to now. The team had decided to give Frank a video about his own life. Therefore, they would put together the best parts, add some nice music, and give it to him. They knew that Frank would like it.

"Finally!" Cooper smiled, "Can't I use something embarrassing in the video too?"

"Be nice Cooper." Ryan warned and left Cooper alone.

Cooper started working, since he had nothing else to do. And Ryan went around in the lab. Looking for something to do. There had barely been any cases for almost three weeks. The only one who seemed to have work to do was Horatio, who had to interview potential replacements for Calleigh, since Calleigh wasn't allowed to shoot guns by her doctor anymore. And of course the lab needed a replacement during Calleigh's maternity leave as well.. Though she would keep on working for another five weeks. Ryan found Eric in the fingerprint lab. Where Eric tried to install a new computer. All the old ones had been replaced to leave some space for the new and better ones. So far, Cooper and the night shift AV-tech had managed to install all the new computers. Except Eric's. Why? Because the computed that was supposed to be in the fingerprint lab, had arrived late. Cooper was now busy.

Eric was cursing as Ryan entered the lab.

"I wonder who takes care of all the technical stuff at your place. Horatio or you?" Ryan asked amused.

Eric gave him a death glare.

"Horatio does. He is good at it. But I can't disturb him now because he is interviewing somebody." Eric sighed.

"I can help." Ryan suggested.

"Yeah sure you can." Eric said.

Ryan nodded and stood by Eric. Trying to help him start the computer.

"It's simple Eric. Just follow the instructions." He said and gave him the instruction-book. Eric sighed and threw it away.

"I know that Ryan. I have already done that. But I have to connect this computer to the lab somehow so that it will install all the necessary programs for our work." Eric sighed and showed him a long cable.

"This is supposed to be a cable that goes from the computer to a socket in the wall. But I can't find an empty one."

Ryan nodded and went down on his knees on the floor and started searching every inch of the wall, he could find. Eric looked at him as if he was idiot.

"Ryan?"

"If there is one thing I have learned by loosing my stuff, it is that if you search every inch of a room, carefully and slowly you will find what you're looking for." Ryan said and moved to the second wall.

Eric sighed and checked the third wall quickly. He couldn't find anything and neither could Ryan.

"Seriously, it has to be here." Ryan said.

He checked the walls again and this time Eric joined him and searched more thorough. After five minutes, they still hadn't found anything. Eric sighed and rested his head against his hands. Ryan scratched his head.

"Behind the desk." Valera said from the doorway.

Ryan and Eric smiled as they saw her and triplets. Valera gave them both a hug.

"Hey! What are you guys doing here?" Ryan asked.

"Saying hello to everyone. And visiting my man." Valera smiled, "Look behind the desk now. The one in the corner."

Ryan and Eric had never felt as foolish as when they discovered an empty socket behind a desk in one of the corners in the room. After they had finally installed the computed correctly, they joined Valera in the break room. Eric was holding Jan, Ryan Caleb and Valera Callum.

"So how is it being home?" Ryan asked.

"Boring sometimes. But fun too. I get to spend so much time with my darlings, then when I go back to work and they start at the day-care center I don't know if I'm going to handle it." Valera smiled.

"You will all do just fine." Eric said, "So are you baptizing them?"

"Nope. Jason and I have decided not to do it. Yet." Valera said, "Can you imagine that I'm a mother of three?"

"Cool huh?" Ryan asked.

"You have no idea!" Valera grinned, "But imagine when they become teenagers."

"Well if they got your personality it will be a living hell." Eric joked, "But if they got Jason's personality it will be heaven."

"Funny Eric, very funny. You know Jason wasn't always so innocent." Valera said, "He used to smoke and have piercing and hang out with the wrong kind of people. His mother always thought she would have to see him end up in jail."

"But he changed." Ryan said.

"Yeah, he decided to fulfill his dream and become a doctor. And now he is fulfilling another dream." Valera smiled, "Becoming an ME."

Ryan was about to say something when Caleb suddenly threw up on him. Eric burst out laughing, which caused Jan to start crying. Valera chuckled and watched as Eric desperately tried to make Jan stop crying.

"It's okay. I was only laughing." Eric said, but Jan would not stop crying. Eric looked at Valera and she shook her head. She had to take Caleb and Ryan went to get cleaned up.

"This is good practice for you." Valera smirked, "Plus she's only doing this because you scared her a little. She will calm down in a minute."

And Jan did calm down after a minute. Eric sighed and looked down at the know calm girl.

"Alright, so no more laughing around Jan." Eric said.

Valera chuckled. Then the door opened and Calleigh walked in. She hugged Valera and then held Caleb.

"Hey there Caleb." Calleigh smiled, "They're getting bigger and bigger all the time."

"Yeah, and they're starting to get heavier too." Valera chuckled.

Valera stayed in the break room for almost an hour chatting with everyone on the team. After an hour, she went home with the triplets again and kissed Jason goodbye.

"You have a lot of kids to spoil." Frank said to Horatio.

"Why do you think I'm the only one?" Horatio asked.

"Because I know you will spoil them the most." Frank chuckled.

Horatio shrugged. It was most likely true. He would spoil the triplets and Calleigh and Ryan's daughter very much.

**-I-**

**13:40**

Alexx sneezed and sneezed as she ducked under the crime scene tape with Jason close behind.

"I didn't think people got sick during the summer." Frank said.

"It's just a cold." Alexx said, "Jason go ahead."

Jason nodded and sat down next to the victim. He was being watched being closely watched by all the reporters on the outside of the tape and the whole team. The victim was Judge Ratner. Who for some reason had been killed outside of jail. Judge Ratner was supposed to be locked up in prison, without parole for another two years at least.

"It looks like he's been stabbed." Jason said, "And these bruises are ante-mortem. Since they are already starting to vanish."

Alexx nodded to show that he was correct. Jason put Ratner on his side to look at the back.

"He's got small pieces of wood imbedded in his skin here at the back. As if someone hit him with a stick." Jason said and placed Ratner back on his stomach.

"TOD?" Horatio asked.

"About Five hours ago." Jason said.

Alexx nodded and then waved her two assistants over to load the body into the van.

"So around 08:30 then." Frank said, "Well, you know what this means H."

"Yeah, the media and the captain will be all over this one." Horatio sighed, "Alright, Ryan photos. Eric print the fence around the garden, and Natalia you will mold all these shoeprints."

Everybody nodded and got to work. Ratner had been found in a garden in a bigger park. All around the crime scenes there were red roses growing, and fence to keep people from jumping into the garden. Though the fence was quite high, it wasn't high enough to keep people from climbing over if they had too.

"Look at this H, three sets of shoeprints." Natalia said, "And the spaces between them are different."

"Someone was running, while one was walking calmly." Horatio said, "Eric, how many shoeprints can you see outside the fence?"

"Two." Eric said.

"Alright, so the third person was already in here." Horatio said.

"But where? Those shoeprints start at the bed of roses and then walk in circles around the body, to then follow the second person out of here and then vanish right at the fence." Natalia said.

"Our murdered changed shoes." Ryan said, "To make it seem like there were a second killer."

"And he changed shoes by the roses?" Natalia asked, "There is only one set of prints there."

"He walked backwards and then changed shoes, walked around the victim and well walked twice towards the fence." Horatio said, "First in his spare shoes and then his real shoes."

"Why make all that trouble just to fool us?" Frank asked, "I mean we're not that stupid that we wouldn't figure it out quickly."

"Well at least he tried." Ryan shrugged.

"He didn't try well enough." Horatio said.

**-I-**

**14:20**

Alexx was standing right at the microphone in the observation room. Every time she sneezed, Jason jumped in fear. He had just washed the body and made a mold out of the stab wounds around the stomach and chest. Alexx sneezed again and Jason jumped. He looked up at his mentor and saw a tired woman.

"Alexx, its okay to go home you know." Jason said.

Alexx shook her head and sneezed again. Today, however, she would have to follow her own rule. Which was to go home when you were sick. She always told everybody else to do that. Now it was her turn.

"Alexx." Jason said, "Admit that you have more then just a cold."

"I can do that. But if I can't leave you alone, someone has to supervise you." Alexx said.

"But I've done several autopsies already." Jason said.

"But you're not allowed to do one without supervision until you're done with your training." Alexx said and sneezed again.

"But Daniel is here." Jason smiled.

Daniel was the second ME at the day shift. He was an old man who worked for Alexx, and was going to retire as soon as Jason had finished his training. Alexx thought about what Jason had said, and then she disappeared for a while.

"Alright, he will be here to help you in fifteen minutes." Alexx said and reluctantly agreed to go home and get some rest. Jason sat down and waited for Daniel. He waited ten minutes. Then five more. He didn't want to go and bother Daniel and hurry him up. Therefore, he waited for another ten minutes. This then turned into another ten. During this time, Jason had become tired and fallen asleep with his head next to Ratner's body. It was that way that Daniel found him only two minutes later.

"Some people need to hear music as they fall asleep; other's need to watch TV and some people can sleep next to a dead person." Daniel said loudly and woke Jason up.

Jason blushed and apologized.

"Oh, no. I am the one who should apologize for being late. But I had to finish an autopsy of my own. Now, let's see what we can find here." Daniel smiled and began instructing Jason on what to do.

One hour later, Jason was done, just in time as Horatio and Frank entered the morgue.

"Good work young man." Daniel said, "Hello Lt. and Srgt."

"Hi Daniel." Horatio greeted, "What do you and Jason have for us today?"

Daniel nodded for Jason to tell them what he had found out.

"Right okay. Well, Ratner was hit with a large wooden stick before he died. And then he was stabbed twenty times. He bled out." Jason said, "But I took a look at his feet and saw this."

With some help from a UV-light, Jason showed Frank and Horatio some writing under Ratner's feet.

_**25, 589517**_

_**-80, 288086**_

_**25/6**_

_**22:30**_

_**Michelle**_

"Um, Ratner was apparently supposed to be somewhere at 22:30 tomorrow." Frank said, "I guess that meeting has been cancelled."

"No it hasn't. We're going." Horatio said, "But then we have to figure out where he is going to be."

"Could it be longitude and latitude?" Jason asked.

"Yes, most likely. Alright, great work Jason." Horatio said and left with Frank.

Horatio written down the text on a note and gave it to Cooper. Cooper just managed to hide his work on the video to Frank as Horatio and Frank walked in to his lab.

"What can I do for you today Lt.?" He asked."Find out where this is." Horatio said and have him the note.

"This won't take long. These are exact numbers to a location." Cooper said and typed a little on his computer, "Here we go. Biscayne Bay."

"What the hell was Ratner supposed to do at Biscayne Bay?" Frank asked.

"I guess we'll find out tomorrow night." Horatio said.

**-I-**

**15:15**

Eric rubbed his eyes and tried to find a match to yet another fingerprint. He had printed the entire fence and found over 100 prints. He had been able to reduce them down to 35 as several of the prints were from the same people. Now he was 14 left to check for a match. And so far, he had nothing.

"How's everything going?" Calleigh asked as she entered the lab.

Calleigh wasn't allowed to shoot guns anymore in the lab. Instead, she caught up on a lot of paperwork and it was boring, of course.

"Bad. I haven't found a match yet." Eric sighed.

"Is there something else bothering you?" Calleigh asked.

Eric smiled slightly. Calleigh could read everyone like a book if she knew them well enough. She knew something was on Eric's mind, and it wasn't work. Eric was indeed thinking about a lot of other stuff. And he hadn't talked to anyone about it yet.

"Yeah, I guess it is." He admitted.

"Want to tell me about it?" Calleigh asked.

Eric sighed and shrugged. He didn't see anything wrong about it.

"Something is bothering Horatio. This in turn bothers me." Eric said.

"Okay, what is bothering him?"

"I don't know. He does not sleep much anymore. Barely eats and well, seems to have a lot on his mind. He hasn't said anything yet and neither have I."

"Why not?"

"Because what If it's just one of those times for him." Eric shrugged.

"What time?" Calleigh asked.

Eric realized that Calleigh had no idea that Horatio used to have periods when he had nightmares almost every night.

"Well, sometimes he has nightmares." Eric said, "Don't tell anyone about it. He doesn't want people to know. Only Alexx, Frank and I know about it."

"I don't tell anyone. What does he dream about?" Calleigh asked.

"He hasn't told me much. But it is usually about people who have tied. Like his brother." Eric sighed, "Anyway, if it what is bothering him, then I know that it's not much I can do."

"And if it isn't?" Calleigh asked.

"Then I don't know. That's why I haven't said anything yet." Eric said.

Calleigh nodded, "Talk to him."

"Ill try." Eric said and chuckled slightly.

Calleigh smiled. She knew that getting Horatio to talk about feelings wasn't easy. However, eventually he would have to open up. At least to Eric.

_**TBC…**_

**AN: Please review!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Monday 24****th**** June. 16:45**

Calleigh caught up with Horatio outside his office. He had just finished all of his interviews, and of course, Calleigh was curious as to who would be her replacement. Horatio smirked as he saw Calleigh.

"I haven't decided yet Cal." He smiled.

"Okay, but do you have any favorites?" She asked as she walked with him in the hallway.

"Yes, I'm down to two." Horatio said, "Amber Jensen and Lyle Carmody."

"Anyone of them who is a newbie?"

"Nope, they're both over 30 and have done this job for a few years." Horatio said, "I have to think some more about who to hire."

Calleigh nodded, "Alright, well as soon as you have decided I want to know, please."

"Of course." Horatio said and walked towards the men's room. Calleigh walked to her lab.

Horatio yawned as he came out of the men's room. Eric was waiting outside with a worried look.

"What's wrong?" Horatio asked.

"Why don't you tell me?"

"Eric." Horatio sighed.

"Horatio please. Just tell me if this is one of those times when you have nightmares?" Eric asked.

Both Horatio and Eric knew that there wasn't much Eric could do to help during one of those times. But Eric needed to know.

"Yeah, I guess it is." Horatio sighed, "I…"

Horatio suddenly lost focus and had to steady himself against the wall. Eric quickly grabbed his arms.

"Whoa, H!" He said.

Eric looked into Horatio's blue eyes with worry and Horatio looked back with a confused look. Suddenly everything had just started spinning for him.

"H, are you sick?" Eric asked.

"No, I um, I don't know what happened." Horatio said, "I'm fine."

"You call that fine?" Eric asked, "H, just relax in your office for a while okay?"

Horatio nodded and Eric followed him all the way to the office to make sure he was resting. He even stayed with him for a while, but as soon as Eric left, Horatio sat down at his desk and went right back to work.

**-I-**

**18:30**

Rick Stetler was lying in his cell. His cellmate was still eating dinner. Rick was in jail for drug- and women smuggling. Thanks to the FBI. He knew that he deserved to be there, but it didn't mean he liked it. He had to spend twenty years in jail. Twenty years! He missed the freedom he had once had. He even missed his job. He had spent about a year in prison now, but for him it seemed like he had already been there for ten years. Time passed so slowly. And since he was an ex-cop, he had been in trouble many times during the last year. Many of the convicts hated him, others just ignored him. But he had at least one person who saw him as some sort of friend. His cell mate John. John was a former drug addict and drug dealer, who had killed his own brother by mistake. He had been sent to jail because of the drugs and for manslaughter. Everyday and every night, Rick had to listen to John's cries for new drugs and his stories about the old-days. John was just 23 years old, what did he know about the old-days?

"Hey Ricky." John said as he climbed up to his bed, "How's it going?"

Rick shrugged. Like he always did. Rick had thought many times about killing himself, but his will to live was stronger. Sometimes he had hoped that maybe some of the many gang-members around the prison would beat him to death, but they didn't go that far.

"I heard Judge Ratner was killed today." John said, "Fucking bastard."

Judge Ratner had been at the same place as Rick. They had often gotten into intense arguments. Ratner had lived in a better cell than most inmates had, and been served better food. However, he was still a criminal, just like Rick.

"Did you know that he managed to get out?" Rick asked.

"Yeah, I heard that. I have no idea how he did it." John said.

"I do."

"Really? How?" John asked, if there was one thing John wanted more then anything else, it was freedom. Just like Rick. That's why Rick knew that he could trust him.

"The showers." Rick said, "He found a small hole, and made it bigger. It's hidden behind the towel-shelf."

"You're joking, Ricky."

"No! I'm not. I saw the hole myself." Rick said.

"So why didn't you leave?" John asked.

"Because I didn't trust Ratner to show me the way out. And I don't want to leave with him." Rick snorted, "You can come with me."

"The cops will find us in no-time." John sighed.

"No they won't. We'll find some new clothes and get the hell out of Florida." Rick said.

"Are you serious about this Ricky?"

"Of course I am." Rick said, "We're getting our freedom back."

"What if we get killed like Ratner?"

"Ratner messed with the wrong people." Rick said, "I heard that he wanted out so that he could kill Lt. Caine."

"Who the fuck is that?" John asked.

"The guy who locked him up." Rick said, "Anyway, Ratner was supposed to get something at Biscayne Bay. I suggest we go there first and then we leave."

"When was this meeting supposed to take place?" John asked.

"Tomorrow night. But even if he won't show up. There might be something there to find." Rick smiled.

John nodded and shook hands with Rick. They had a deal.

"What else do you know about Ratner?" John asked, "About his death?"

"That he bled out. His killer wasn't supposed to let him die that way. It was supposed to be fast. But he screwed up." Rick said, lost in his thoughts.

"You're talking crazy man. It almost sounds as if you killed him." John chuckled.

"You have no idea what I know." Rick said quietly to himself.

**-I-**

**Tuesday 25****th**** June. 08:30**

Frank was chasing down two escaped convicts together with ten other cops. The prison for men in Miami had recently discovered that two inmates had escaped. Frank wasn't happy about having to chase two guys, who's ID hadn't yet been discovered.

"Anyone who has seen them yet?" Frank asked into the radio.

"No, not yet." He got as a reply.

The officers had spotted the two men several times. But lost them after just a few minutes. The two convicts had stolen a motorcycle and were driving around in a big neighbor hood. And since they could easily driver through people's back yards, it made it difficult for the police to keep track of them. And the helicopter had also lost them a few times. However, now it seemed as if they had vanished. Frank stopped his car.

"They can't just disappear, we've got road blocks everywhere. They have to be here somewhere." Frank said to his two colleagues that were with him.

"Maybe they parked inside someone's garage?" One of the officers suggested.

"Good thinking. Let's check it out." Frank said and upholstered his weapon.

Since they had stopped just in front of a house, they decided to check that house first. The garage door was open and Frank checked behind the two big cars inside. No motorcycle.

"Empty." Frank sighed and moved onto the next house.

"MDPD!" Frank said as he heard some noise from the garage. Without hesitation, the motorcycle driver suddenly drove out of the garage, knocking Frank down on the ground and speeding down the road. The officers shot at the motorcycle but they didn't hit it. Frank got on his feet and ran towards the car. He managed to catch up with the motorcycle and drive closely behind it.

"Stop the vehicle!" Frank growled over his car microphone.

The convicts had to intentions on stopping. Instead, they turned left quickly and droved towards a big mall. They managed to slip through the roadblocks and drive all they way to the mall's garage house. Three stories of parking lots. It was pure hell for Frank and his fellow officers. Rick was the one driving the motorcycle. As soon as he stopped on the second parking lot store, he and John ran inside the mall. Looking for some clothes.

"We are so lucky!" John laughed as the two men stood in the elevator.

"We have to find some clothes." Rick said.

The elevator stopped on the third floor and as quickly as they could, without being spotted they found a store with men's clothes. They picked out some clothes that seemed boring, so that they wouldn't stand out in the crowd so much and then they changed quickly.

"Rick, how do we get out with these clothes?" John asked.

"Just run." Rick said.

Rick and John walked towards the entrance of the store and as soon as the clerk noticed them, they ran towards the stairs. Frank and the officers walked out of the elevator just in time to see Rick and John run towards the stairs. Rick was faster than John was, and had to pull him up the stairs.

"Come on John!" Rick growled and reached the roof.

John panted and sat down on the roof, while Rick tried to block the door. He looked all over the roof, but found nothing.

"We're going to get caught now, Ricky." John panted, "How the hell are we supposed to get off the roof?"

"We're going to climb down." Rick said and walked towards a small door. A door that led to the elevator shaft. He opened the door and started climbing down. John was quick to follow.

"What if the elevator comes up?" John asked.

"It's not going all the way up, so it won't crush us." Rick said, "Just jump on the roof if you have to."

As they started climbing down, Frank and the officers ran up the roof and started looking for Rick and John.

"Did you guys recognize one of the convicts?" Frank asked.

"Yes, we saw him."

"Rick Stetler. The bastard." Frank sighed.

Rick and John climbed faster as they could hear the officers talking. They gently stepped down on the elevator roof and then opened the small door on the roof to climb down inside the elevator. Then they went down to the first floor. As they stepped out on the first floor, they saw two officers at the entrance.

"How do we get out?" John asked.

"We create panic. That way, everybody will get out." Rick smirked and pushed the fire alarm button next to him. Everybody started moving out, which was almost 200 people. Rick and John managed to walk out with them, undetected.

**-I-**

**10:15**

Natalia and Calleigh were trying to track down Rick and John's movements by all the witness statements they had received over the last one and a half hour. Over 40 people had seen Rick and John, but every time officers had arrived at the places they had been spotted, Rick and John were long gone.

"Do you think Rick has something to do with Ratner's death?" Natalia asked.

"I don't know. Maybe, it doesn't seem to be a coincidence that he would escape now. Just as Ratner has been found dead." Calleigh said, "But I wonder why he dragged John Gray with him."

"Well, they were both sent to jail for drug dealing." Natalia said, "Maybe Rick needs John to get back in business."

"But I don't think Rick wants to get back in business."

"We have to find him and ask him." Natalia sighed, "Do you know why H looks so tired all the time?"

"No. I don't." Calleigh said, although Eric had told her what it might be, she didn't know for sure. And she had promised not to say anything.

"I'm worried. I think we all are." Natalia said.

"I think Eric keeps an eye on Horatio though." Calleigh said.

Natalia nodded. Her phone rang and she answered it. Another person had seen Rick, but not John.

"Okay, Rick was just spotted at East Perrine." Natalia said and put a little needle on the big map in front of her.

Calleigh suddenly realized where Rick was going.

"Oh my God! He's on his way to Biscayne Bay!" She said, "He knows Ratner was going there and now he's on his way there to meet this Michelle person that Ratner was supposed to meat."

"You're right! So we should send all officers to Biscayne Bay."

"But Biscayne Bay is in the ocean, the meeting could take place on land or in the ocean." Calleigh sighed.

"We could still be there and see if we find him." Natalia said and Calleigh nodded, "Why would he dumb John though?"

Calleigh shrugged, "Maybe they just parted ways. They may not need each other anymore."

"Alright, to we're going to Biscayne Bay." Natalia smiled.

**-I-**

**11:00 **

Frank and Ryan were walking down a street at East Perrine. Rick hadn't been spotted since the last phone call to Natalia. However, they were sure that he was hiding somewhere close.

"It's hot today." Ryan sighed, "But it's good for you though. You get to spend your birthday in the sun."

Frank sighed and glared at Ryan.

"It may still rain in two days." He said.

"What's so bad about being 50?" Ryan asked.

"I'm old!"

"You're not old… well, not very old." Ryan smiled, "I see age as something good."

"Why?" Frank asked.

"It means you have survived this far. 50 years, Frank. You have walked on this earth for 50 years. You have experienced a lot of things. Made both good and bad mistakes." Ryan said, "I think those things are good."

"You won't say that when you reach 50." Frank muttered, "Here it is."

Rick had been spotted standing near a phone booth. Ryan had his kit with him and started printing.

"Was he inside the booth as well?" He asked.

"No, according to the witness, he was just standing outside for a couple of minutes." Frank said.

Ryan nodded, "He may have touched the glass then."

"I have to give him some credit though. He is good at hiding." Frank sighed.

"Yeah, have you put up police protection for H?" Ryan asked.

"No, why would I?"

"Rick has always hated H, just like Ratner did." Ryan shrugged, "Maybe he is after H."

"Then why would he be here?" Frank asked, "And besides he blames the FBI for sending him to jail. H is safe."

"Have we spotted him yet?" Horatio's said from behind Frank.

Both Frank and Ryan jumped in fear and sighed in relief when they saw the red head.

"You didn't have to scare us." Frank said.

Horatio chuckled softly, "So, have we spotted him yet?"

"No, he vanished." Frank sighed, "But if I see him, I'm going to shoot the bastard."

"Why?" Ryan asked.

Frank pointed at his pants. He had black marks from a wheel on them. Apparently, Rick had driven over Frank's leg as he escaped from the garage. It hadn't hurt very much and Frank wasn't injured, but he had to walk around with the mark, which made people wonder of course, what he had been up to.

Ryan laughed as he saw the mark.

"Very funny, Wolfe." Frank muttered, "At least I don't' believe it Santeria."

Ryan stopped laughing when Frank reminded him of the time he had believe a curse was a part of a case. He had believe that a little box had been the source of the curse, and the little box was still missing somewhere outside of America, together with the killer.

"Gentlemen." Horatio said, "Any prints Ryan?"

"Yeah, I got some." Ryan said and lifted the prints of the booth.

A man in a grey suite walked towards the officers. They understood that he was an attorney right away.

"Lt. Caine?" He asked and walked towards Horatio.

"Yes."

"I'm Jim Roberts." Jim said and handed Horatio a letter, "You have been called a witness in NY."

"A witness to what?" Horatio asked.

"The murder of your parents."

_**TBC…**_

**AN: Please review!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Tuesday June 25th****. 12:30**

Rick hadn't showed up at East Perrine. Frank and Ryan had returned to the lab to process the fingerprints that Ryan had found on the phone booth. Horatio had talked to Jim Roberts. After he was done, he had disappeared to his office. It was there that Eric found him. Eric opened the door and looked at Horatio's back. Horatio was sitting in his desk chair, with back against the door. The blinds covered the windows.

"H?" Eric asked, "I just heard that the attorney general from NY visited you."

Horatio didn't answer. Eric walked around the chair and sat down in front of his lover. He could see that Horatio was clearly bothered by whatever Jim Roberts had told him. Eric gently squeezed his hand and it seemed to bring Horatio out of his deep thoughts.

"Hey." Horatio said quietly.

"Hey. What's going on H?" Eric asked.

"Mr. Roberts flew down here to tell me that I have to witness in court in NY." Horatio said with difficulty.

Eric knew that something bad had been brought back to Horatio's life. And since he knew that he had grown up in New York, he had a pretty good idea of what it was about.

"Is it about your parents?" Eric asked.

Horatio nodded, "The cop who investigated the case was found dead a week ago. And he had written a letter. And in that letter he apologized for investigating wrong on a certain case."

"How do you mean?"

"He, um, he had investigated based on my statements to him." Horatio said, "And therefore it was ruled as an accident."

"And Mr. Roberts now thinks that it was murder?" Eric asked.

"No, but a young lawyer up there apparently does. He's not pointing the finger at me, but suggests that maybe somebody else had killed my mother and therefore my father died for the wrong reason." Horatio said, "So they have to investigate again."

"And you have to witness." Eric sighed, "What are you going to do?"

"I have to witness I guess." Horatio sighed, "Even though I don't want to."

"Does Mr. Roberts know that you don't want to?"

Horatio nodded. Eric sighed and hugged his lover. His husband. When they parted, Eric could see that Horatio was fighting to not cry. Horatio had never told Eric much about his childhood. He knew that it had been a bad one and that Horatio had been abused. Horatio had some scars to prove it. But he only knew that Horatio's parents had died on the same day and that it had been an accident.

"I killed my father Eric." Horatio said.

"No, no you didn't." Eric said quickly.

He wasn't going to let Horatio blame himself. He knew that he already blamed himself for so many things that weren't his fault. He wouldn't let him do it again. Horatio chuckled dryly.

"But I did, Eric." He said, "It was an accident. But I still did it."

"H, don't blame yourself for his death." Eric said softly, "It's not your fault."

Horatio just nodded, but Eric knew that he hadn't convinced him that it wasn't his fault. They were interrupted by a knock on the door as Calleigh appeared in the doorway.

"Hi, um… Jason has something to tell us about Ratner." She said.

"We'll be right there." Horatio said and Calleigh left.

Horatio looked at his watch and stood up quickly. He took a deep breath and left his office with Eric.

"I have to meet our replacement for Calleigh in five minutes. You go ahead to the morgue." Horatio said and Eric nodded.

Once down in the morgue, the rest of the team was waiting.

"Is Horatio coming?" Frank asked.

"He's meeting Calleigh's replacement." Eric said, "So Jason, what have you got?"

"I discovered something that might change your theory about the killer changing his shoes." Jason smiled, "Remember that I told you Ratner had been beaten with a stick? Well, when I removed the pieces of wood I realized that they were wet."

"It rained two nights ago." Ryan said.

"Exactly. But the front of his shirt where he had been stabbed was dry." Jason said.

"Well it took him some time to bleed out." Calleigh said.

"Yes, but not more then twenty minutes." Jason said, "Between being beaten and stabbed his shirt had time to get dry."

"Alright, so he was beaten down by the roses in the park. Someone was hiding in the roses and then stabbed him several hours later." Frank sighed.

"Three hours later actually." Ryan said, "It rained between two or two-thirty and five that night."

"How do you know this?" Eric asked.

"I had couldn't sleep that night." Ryan shrugged.

"Why did the killer wait three hours to stab him?" Natalia asked.

"Maybe he thought he was dead already." Frank suggested, "But then again, if he thought he was dead, why didn't he leave the scene?"

The door to the morgue opened and Horatio walked in with a young brunette girl in her early thirties.

"Everybody this is Amber Jensen, she is our new ballistic expert for now and until Calleigh gets back from her maternity leave." Horatio said.

Amber shook hands with everybody and she seemed to be a very nice girl.

"Hi, I'm Calleigh." Calleigh smiled.

"Hi, Amber. So you're my supervisor in the ballistic lab for a few weeks then?" Amber asked.

Horatio had told her that Calleigh would still be the boss in the ballistics lab and show Amber how to run things in his lab.

"Yeah, that's me." Calleigh smiled.

"Who is the victim?" Amber asked.

"Judge Joseph Ratner." Horatio said.

Jason then told Amber and Horatio what he had just told the rest of team. Then he gave Calleigh a piece of bone from the body that had marks after the knife on it.

"Well this is perfect. Amber and I can get busy finding the murder weapon then." Calleigh smiled and left with Amber. The rest of the team chucked. It seemed as if Calleigh had found another friend.

"Alright people, you know what to do. Be nice and help her out if she needs it." Horatio said and left.

**-I-**

**15: 40**

John was groaning. He was hungry but so far, he and Rick hadn't managed to get any food. Though they were hiding behind a convenient store, they wanted to wait until there were less people on the streets and inside the store. And since the sun was still shining, it was easier for the cops to see them.

"Damn cops!" John groaned, "I need some fucking food and I can't get it until they stop spying around in this area."

"Shut up John!" Rick snapped, "They won't leave until they find us. Horatio and his team are 100 percent ready to catch us if they see us. Horatio ain't taking this lightly."

"Just shoot the guy." John said.

"Yeah, right. That won't exactly make things easier you moron. Then every single cop will want to kill us." Rick sighed; maybe it had been a bad idea to bring John with him after all. John was whining too much and usually did think before he had thought it through. Rick knew that it was a big risk to have John with him, John wouldn't think twice about shooting a cop. However, they didn't have a gun with them.

"Look, people are starting to leave the store now. I think I might be able to go in there and get something to eat." Rick said.

"A cheeseburger please." John said.

"In your dreams pal." Rick said and peeked behind the corner. He couldn't see any cops and the store was almost empty. He started to sneak around the corner and walked to the entrance. He stopped dead in his track as he noticed a police car hidden behind the second corner. The cops weren't in the car, but they had arrested someone. Rick peeked inside the store and saw the cops buying something to eat.

"Hey you!" He heard someone's muffled cries.

He looked towards the police car and saw the guy in the backseat yelling for him.

"It's you! The guy on TV!" He yelled, "The guy that the cops are looking for!"

Rick gave him a death glare and ran away to hide behind the corner again as the cops walked out of the store and towards their car.

"I saw that guy on TV!" The guy in the backseat said as the officers sat down in the car.

"Yeah and who was it this time? Michael Douglas?" One of the officers said and drove away.

Rick sighed in relief and once again walked towards the store. He entered at the time as a young girl. Rick carefully walked towards the bread section and then the drinks. Without being noticed he managed to slip two big loafs inside his jacket. When he was about to put the drinks inside the pockets of his pants however, the young girl noticed him.

"What are you doing?" She asked aloud to alert the clerk.

The clerk looked at Rick and grabbed the phone. Rick knew that he couldn't let himself be caught. He pushed the girl towards some shelves and she hit her head and passed out on the floor. Then he ran towards the clerk and knocked him down. After that, he ran out of the store towards the back to pick up John.

"John we have to leave now!" He yelled, "I just knocked two people down, and the cops are on their way!"

John was quickly on his feet and ran with Rick towards a big park. Without being noticed, they climbed up in a big tree with many leaves to hide them. Rick and John were panting and looking at the ground to see if anyone had seen them. Nobody had.

"Want some bread?" Rick asked and gave John a loaf.

"You knocked them down?" John asked impressed.

"I had to. I have something I need to do and I can't be caught stealing food." Rick panted and started eating.

"What is it you have to do besides getting free?" John asked.

"I have someone I need to meet." Rick said.

John nodded. He knew Rick well enough to hear on the tone of his voice when something was private business.

**-I-**

**22:00**

Frank yawned. He was sitting in a van looking at cameras with Ryan. In only thirty minutes, a woman named Michelle was supposed to meet Ratner. Instead, she would meet an undercover cop. Ryan and Frank were standing the harbor in case the meeting took place there, while on the same time looking at the cameras that they had put up at different locations. Some officers were hiding along the beach and the coast guards were out on the ocean, Biscayne Bay.

"Coffee?" Ryan asked and held out a cup of coffee for him.

"Thanks." Frank said and took the cup.

"This job has made me addicted to coffee." Frank said.

Ryan chuckled, "Me too."

The only thing they could see on the monitors was civilians out on the street, walking home or going out to have some fun. It had been like that for almost an hour. There had been no sign of Rick or John Gray. Michelle could have passed the cameras several times, but since nobody knew that she looked like, they couldn't possibly know where she was either.

"I hate this shit." Frank sighed, "Why can't somebody else do this?"

"Because you know that we all have to do this sometimes." Ryan said.

He didn't mind sitting in a van. He knew that the job was serious, because he had to warn his fellow colleagues if something happened or was about to happen. Frank didn't like it because he liked to be out there and arrest the bad guys.

"Frank, wake up." Ryan said and shook him.

Frank muttered something incoherent and gave Ryan a death glare.

"I'm bigger and stronger than you. So I suggest you watch out." Frank said.

"I'm faster than you." Ryan said.

"Fast won't help you in here. I'm blocking your only way out."

"Frank, don't be so childish." Ryan sighed, "You can't do anything to me."

"Of course I can! I grew up in Texas." Frank said, "My sister and I are freaking Indiana Jones!"

"Frank, you grew up in the desert." Ryan muttered.

"And in the desert you have to learn a lot about surviving." Frank smirked.

"You mean like, how to dig a hole to find water?" Ryan asked grinning.

"_Guys!" _Horatio's voice interrupted over the radio, _"Everyone can hear ya!"_

"Sorry H." Ryan said and glared at Frank. Frank gave him an innocent look.

"_Calm down." _Horatio said.

Ryan gave Frank a playful kick. Frank shrugged and went back to sleeping. Ryan then noticed a figure sneaking around the harbor.

"Is that you Rick?" He asked quietly, "H, I think I found Rick."

"_Where?" _Horatio asked.

"The harbor." Ryan said.

"_Then he's with you Ryan." _Horatio said.

"Right. Sorry." Ryan chuckled and opened the van door. He peeked outside, "Frank!" He said and shook Frank.

Frank muttered and opened his eyes. He saw Ryan with his gun un holstered, walking towards the boats.

"I think Rick is here." Ryan said, "Rick Stetler. MDPD!"

Ryan saw some movement by a boat and ran to the boat. Frank was close behind him.

"Rick!" Frank growled, "Come out with your hands above your head!"

The small figure crept out the shadows and it was indeed Rick.

"Rick, Rick, Rick." Frank sighed and shook his head.

Before Ryan or Frank could say anything else, Rick jumped down in the water and started swimming. Ryan was quick to follow. Frank called for backup, while trying to keep his flashlight on Rick.

"Rick, it won't do you any good to run!" Frank growled.

Rick dove under the water and Ryan lost track of him.

"Where did he go?" He asked.

"He dove under." Frank sighed, "He has to come up sooner or later to breathe, so just wait."

Backup arrived and Eric jumped in the water too. He was a faster swimmer than Ryan was and swam past him. Ryan tried to keep up. Rick eventually came up to the surface just in front of Eric. Eric grabbed him and in fear, Rick knocked him in the face with his head. Eric cursed and got dizzy for a while. Rick started swimming away from him, but Eric followed even though everything was dizzy for him and his nose was bleeding.

"Rick for Christ sake!" Eric yelled and almost grabbed Rick's foot.

Rick then dove under again and this time he managed to swim too far away for Eric and Ryan to keep up with him.

"Where are the coast guards?" Frank yelled.

"Still out on the ocean. Horatio told them to stay there in case Michelle shows up." Ryan said, "Should we call them?"

"No, we'll catch Rick later. He has to get out of the water at some point." Frank sighed, "Get out of water guys."

Eric and Ryan swam towards the shore and Eric's nose was checked over. They were covered with blankets.

"My phone is destroyed now." Ryan sighed as he held up his phone.

"I left mine in the car." Eric said, "How does my nose look?"

"Fine. You might be sore for a few days, but it is not broken. Are you feeling dizzy?" The officer who also had some nurse training asked.

"Yeah, I did for a little while." Eric sighed.

"Well, I don't think you have a concussion. But you should still get checked up." She said.

Eric nodded, "Thanks."

Frank sighed as his phone rang. It was Calleigh.

"Hey Cal." He answered, "One second."

Frank gave his phone to Ryan.

"Baby?" He asked, "What?! I'm on my way."

"Something wrong?" Frank asked.

"Yeah, Calleigh just went into labor!"

_**TBC…**_

**AN: Please review!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Tuesday June 25th****. 22:25**

Never before had Ryan drove a car so fast. But he had never had a reason do it until now. Ryan got to the hospital just in time to see Calleigh being wheeled inside a room with Natalia close to her, and four nurses.

"Calleigh!" He yelled and ran towards her.

Calleigh was crying and hugged Ryan hard. Ryan kissed her and didn't let go, until the head nurse cleared her throat. The head nurse looked at them with a sad look. Something was wrong. Very wrong. Calleigh wasn't supposed to give birth until another seven weeks. Both Ryan and Calleigh knew that it was risky for Calleigh to be pregnant, since she had already lost a baby and her body seemed to reject the baby in the 2nd month. But she had been given pills to prevent it, and so far, it had helped.

"What's wrong?" Calleigh asked.

"We have to do tests to find out. But I have to tell you to be prepared for the worst." The head nurse said sadly.

Calleigh and Ryan nodded. The nurse left, while Natalia stayed. Not sure what to do. She squeezed Calleigh's hand gently.

"I'm so scared." Calleigh sobbed.

"Calleigh, you are the strongest woman I know." Natalia said, "You can pull through this. And so can your baby. Because after all, not only does little Riley have the strongest mother, but also the one of the toughest father's I've ever met."

Ryan and Calleigh nodded and Natalia gave them both a hug. She then went for coffee for herself and Ryan, but they knew that she would take a long time to come back, since she wanted the couple to have some alone time.

Ryan sat down in the bed next to Calleigh. Calleigh wasn't feeling any contractions anymore, but her stomach still hurt. Ryan put his hand over her belly and couldn't feel Riley kick.

"Has she kicked at all today?" He asked.

"Yes, but then she stopped an hour ago." Calleigh said, "I thought she had just fallen asleep, and then suddenly I felt pain in my stomach."

"It will be okay honey. The worst scenario hasn't happened yet." Ryan smiled.

Calleigh nodded. She knew what it was like to have a miscarriage and since she hadn't had one this time. Riley Sara Joan was still alive.

"I'm not made to have babies." Calleigh sighed, "I shouldn't ever get pregnant again."

"Cal, don't say that. You've been given pills to help."

"And look what that has brought us?"

"Well, it gave us 33 weeks with little Riley in your belly. It's just time for her to come out." Ryan said softly.

"You don't know that."

"But I think that is what will have to happen." Ryan said, "I think that Riley will have to be born."

Calleigh nodded in agreement. The same thought had crossed her mind many times. There was a knock on the door as Dr. Boston, their doctor, entered the room.

"Hi, I'm sorry to interrupt, but we have to do an ultrasound." Dr. Boston said.

"No problems." Calleigh said.

Dr. Boston nodded and put the gel on Calleigh's stomach. He looked concerned as he found Riley. Calleigh and Ryan got worried when Dr. Boston didn't say anything.

"What can you tell us?" Ryan asked.

"Well, Riley has a weak pulse and isn't breathing normally." Dr. Boston said, "It's not looking good."

"What do we do now?" Calleigh asked.

"I will take some more tests, to see if your body is rejecting Riley, like the last time." Dr. Boston said.

"And what could the results be?" Calleigh asked.

"Well, you will most likely have to give birth to your daughter." Dr. Boston said.

"Pre-mature births are very risky." Ryan said.

"Yes, there is a risk that her lungs won't be developed well enough yet for example. But she is 33 weeks old, the older she is the better her chances are." Dr. Boston said, "But we'll see in a few hours what we have to do."

**-I-**

**22:45**

Frank sighed as the coast guard arrived at the harbor. The were dragging a boat along with them. The meeting with Michelle had not gone well. The coast guard had found a boat that was mysteriously floating around on the ocean, but when the approached it, someone had jumped down in the water and disappeared. Since it was so dark outside, they hadn't been able to spot the person in the water.

"How the hell could the person on the boat just disappear?" Frank asked.

"Maybe she had diving gear with her." Eric said.

"You're kidding right?" Frank asked.

"No, I'm not. Maybe the person on the boat had an escape plan in case the coast guard showed up." Eric said, "And maybe the person on the boat was Michelle."

"Well that's great then. We just lost her if that's the case." Frank muttered.

"We have her boat, we can find her prints." Eric said.

"Gentlemen." Horatio said, he could feel the tension between Eric and Frank, and the last thing that anyone needed was a fight between the two of them.

"Sorry H." Frank sighed, "I'm just pissed. We have two missing convicts and girl that our victim was supposed to meat."

"If Rick and John hadn't escaped, I'm pretty sure we would have had Michelle in our custody now." Eric said.

"Well, Rick's escape certainly made things worse." Horatio agreed, "Eric, let's process the boat."

Eric nodded and boarded the boat as soon as it was tied to the bridge. Before Horatio could follow him, Frank grabbed his arm.

"H, what's going on between you and that Robert's guy?" Frank asked.

"It's personal Frank." Horatio said.

"And I'm your friend." Frank said, "Look, I know you like to keep things to yourself, but I'm here for you. Okay?"

"Thanks Frank." Horatio said and followed Eric.

Eric had found the bedroom, where the bed was messed up. He found hair on the bed.

"Blond hair." Eric said, "And a messed up bed. Someone had a good time on this boat."

"And hopefully we can find out who it was." Horatio sighed, "Look at this, champagne bottles for several thousand dollars."

"Expensive." Eric said.

"Yes and an expensive boat." Horatio said, "Someone will miss this boat."

"Unless the owner is Michelle or knows Michelle."

"Well, I think we have a good chance at finding the owner, since his or hers DNA and fingerprints should be all over this boat." Horatio said.

As Eric and Horatio started processing. Mr. Roberts ducked under the crime scene tape to see Horatio.

"Lt. Caine." Mr. Robert said, "You are a hard man to reach."

"I know." Horatio said, "What can I do for you?"

"Well, you can come with me and tell me what happened on the day of your parent's murder."

The officers guarding the scene couldn't help but to hear what was being said. Where Lt. Caine came from, was to most people a mystery. They all wondered what kind of environment the red head had grown up in. And they could hear the frustration in Horatio's voice as he spoke to Mr. Roberts.

"Why not now?" Mr. Roberts asked, "I've been waiting for hours."

"I have a job to do." Horatio snapped, "I have to process this boat."

"I'm sure your CSI can do that." Mr. Robert said.

"This is a big boat, and I can't let him process it alone. I won't let him. I will give you my statement some other time."

"And when will that be?" Mr. Roberts asked frustrated, "You and I have to be in court in NY in three days."

"You have to be there! I don't." Horatio said, "I told you already. I am not going to testify in court. My statement to you is enough."

Mr. Roberts knew he had lost the fight and nodded his goodbye and left. He would come back in the morning and then he would force Horatio to tell him what had happened. It was up to Horatio if would be with or without a struggle.

"That guy is a piece of shit." Eric growled.

"Eric." Horatio said, "Leave the subject alone. Let's focus on work."

Eric nodded. Yet he couldn't take his mind of what Horatio was hiding. It was clearly painful for Horatio to talk about his parents, but Eric wanted to know what had happened. He wanted to help his lover and be there for him.

**-I-**

**Wednesday June 26****th****. 01:30**

"I'm dying to hear the reason as to why you show up at our hiding place, wet and cold." John said and shook his head.

Rick sighed and slid down the wall in the little underground basement that he and John had found in the woods. Rick was freezing. John took off his jacket and gave it to Rick.

"I take it the meeting didn't go very well." John said.

"The cops saw me before I had time to steal a boat and head out on the ocean." Rick said.

"If you would have had a gun, would you have shot them?" John asked.

Rick sighed. John loved guns and could shoot anyone, no matter who they were. Cop or not, he could and would shoot them.

"John, I'm not a cop killer." Rick said.

"You wouldn't shoot one of your own." John snorted, "Still a cop at heart, huh?"

"John!" Rick growled, "What is the matter with you? You should be glad that you're free! I got you out of jail."

"And look where that got me? In a fucking basement in the middle of freaking nowhere!" John growled, "Nice work Ricky! You succeeded in giving me freedom."

"Well piss off then! And find your own place to live. We'll see how long you'll make it out there alone, with cops looking for you." Rick yelled.

"How do you think I managed to stay out of the law enforcement's paths for six years Ricky?" John asked, "Huh? It wasn't luck. I was just clever."

"Oh come on. You were just hiding in the same places as all the other junkies." Rick sighed.

"Exactly. Do you know how many junkies there is at my favorite place?" John asked, "Over 80 of them. And the police don't bother to look very much at them, so we would blend in perfectly."

"And how long do you think it would take for another junkie to give up our location for some money to by drugs for?" Rick asked.

John sighed and shook his head, "So you'd rather stay here? Is this what you call freedom?"

"Once I got what I came for, we can leave." Rick said, "We just have to lay low for a while."

"Rick. Whatever was supposed to happen tonight apparently didn't happen!" John said, "And the person that has what you're looking for, doesn't know who you are. So how do you think you're going to be able to contact them?"

"I know her name." Rick said, "Ratner told me that he was meeting a woman named Michelle and she would give him money. I want that money."

"Yeah, but Michelle has either been arrested by now or she's gone." John said, "She doesn't know you, so she won't give you what you came for."

"I can pretend to collect the money for Ratner." Rick smirked.

"They've probably watched the news." John sighed.

"The news?"

"Yeah, it's all over the news that Ratner is dead, and that the two of us have escaped." John sighed, "Either you come with to my hiding place or you stay here and rot."

"Bye John." Rick said.

"You're really serious?"

"I'm on a mission." Rick shrugged, "I'll come and find you later."

John sighed and walked out the door. Rick could hear his footsteps becoming fainter and fainter. After just a few seconds, he couldn't hear anything, except his own breathing. Rick stood up and started taking his clothes off. They needed to dry before he could put them on again, he would just have to sleep naked on the wood floor. He was hungry. The food he had stolen earlier was already gone. However, he'd have to wait until the morning before he could steal again.

**-I-**

**03:50**

"Please tell me you've got something." Natalia sighed as she entered Eric's lab.

Eric had lifted over one hundred fingerprints from the boat, and had managed to narrow it down to three sets of prints. He had also found hair and a contact lens. Before Eric could say anything, Frank and Horatio entered the lab too.

"Alright, I tested the hair for DNA, but couldn't find any. However, the person who the hair belongs too is a drug user. Heroin." Eric said.

"We can talk to all the junkies we know and see if they know anything." Frank said.

"I also found three sets of fingerprints. And I found one match." Eric said, "John Grey. The guy Rick escaped with. His fingerprint was found on the bedroom door and around the kitchen."

"So John Grey and Michelle probably know each other." Horatio said, "This could mean that Rick is either in danger or John Grey is the reason he's involved."

"Exactly. I also found a contact lens. Green." Eric sighed, "No DNA."

"Alright, so all we can really do is talk to junkies and find John Grey."

"John Grey is a junkie." Natalia said, "Maybe he's gone back to his friends."

"Let's hope so. Because otherwise we are no closer to finding our killer or our two convicts." Horatio sighed, "Happy birthday by the way Frank."

"Happy birthday honey." Natalia said and gave him a kiss.

"Thanks. I wish it could have started better though." Frank sighed.

They all knew what he was talking about. Everybody was worried about Calleigh's condition and so far, they hadn't heard anything new. The door opened and Paul from IAB sighed and shook his head at Horatio.

"Mr. Roberts came to see you, huh?" Horatio asked.

"He's says you're being a pain in the ass." Paul sighed.

"I don't think he said that. He's too nice to use those words." Horatio said.

"Horatio. He's say you refuse to cooperate and that makes you a pain in the ass."

"See now Paul, you're actually being very mean to me and exaggerating." Horatio said.

"Why won't you talk to him?" Paul asked as he rubbed his tired eyes.

"I will, but I have a case to work with and a friend in the hospital. It is almost four the morning. I'm sure he'll want to sleep before I talk to him." Horatio said.

"Fine!" Paul sighed and gave up.

**-I-**

**04:20**

"We're done with all our tests and I have the results." Dr. Boston said.

"Please tell us it's good news." Ryan said.

"Well, I don't know about that." Dr. Boston said, "As we suspected Calleigh, your body is rejecting Riley, but Riley is fighting. However she won't be able to fight for long."

"So I have to give birth." Calleigh said.

"Yes, we can do a c-section if you want to." Dr. Boston said, "I have to warn you though, that Riley might not make it. If her lungs are not developed enough then she can die, among other problems. But my main concern is her lungs."

"But she has a chance." Ryan said.

"Yes of course she does." Dr. Boston said.

"Let's do it." Calleigh said.

"You don't want to think this through?" Dr. Boston asked.

"No Sir. I want to give my daughter a chance to live and by keeping her inside me I can't do that." Calleigh said firmly, "And I believe that she will live."

"I agree." Ryan said and squeezed Calleigh's hand.

Dr. Boston nodded and ordered a c-section right away. It was important to get Riley out as quick as possible. Calleigh was prepared for her c-section and Ryan was holding her hand the whole time.

"Okay Calleigh, you won't feel a thing." Dr. Boston said.

"When she is out, can I see her?" Calleigh asked.

"When the coast is clear you can." Dr. Boston smiled.

Calleigh nodded and smiled softly. It seemed as if she was lying on the bed forever. Ryan kissed her hand several times to tell her that he was there with her. Calleigh's eyes started closing and she was so out of it that she didn't hear the cries coming from her baby girl as she was born. Ryan smiled and managed to get a quick look as the nurses took care of his daughter. He looked down at Calleigh and noticed that she wasn't reacting to his words.

"Calleigh? She's out now." Ryan smiled, "She's crying. That is a good sign."

"Calleigh?" Dr. Boston asked and checked her eyes.

"Her pressure is dropping Dr.!" A nurse called out.

Ryan was quickly pulled away from Calleigh as her heartbeat started beating faster and faster.

"Calleigh!" He yelled and tried to reach out to her. The nurses pushed him away to be able to do their job.

Suddenly the line went flat and Calleigh no longer had a pulse.

_**TBC…**_

**AN: Please review!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Wednesday June 26****th****. 07:50**

Calleigh had gone into cardiac arrest for three minutes. Now she was lying unconscious in a hospital bed, three and a half hours after giving birth to Riley Sarah Joan. Riley had been checked over by a doctor and nothing was wrong with her. She was in perfect health, she was just a little smaller then other babies. Riley was asleep in an incubator. She was going to be in it for two days, just to be sure that she was okay. When Calleigh had gone into cardiac arrest, Dr. Boston had been so scared and concerned that he didn't want the same thing to happen to Riley. Why Calleigh had suddenly lost her pulse, was unknown. Dr. Boston had run some tests, but he didn't have an answer to give Ryan, who was running between his daughter and his wife's room. He had called the team. They all wanted to come to the hospital to support him, but he had firmly said no. They needed to sleep, and Calleigh wasn't allowed to have any visitors, except him. Ryan was sitting on a chair, next to Calleigh's bed.

"Little Riley is beautiful." Ryan said, "She's asleep right now. You have to wake up and see her."

Ryan gently squeezed Calleigh's hand. He smiled widely as she squeezed back, but she didn't open her eyes.

"It's Frank's birthday today as well. That's a little funny right? Our daughter shares her birthday from now on." Ryan smiled. Calleigh squeezed his hand again as if she agreed.

"I called our parents and the team." Ryan said, "They all want to be here. But I told them that we need some time alone, and the team needs to sleep. They've been up all night."

Calleigh moaned softly, but still didn't wake up. Ryan was sure she could hear him, but that she was just too tired and maybe a little bit out of it, and that's why she didn't wake up.

"Well Calleigh. I think you're almost waking up. And when you do, I will introduce you to our daughter as soon as possible." Ryan smiled, "Oh I took a picture of her and sent it to everyone. She's the cutest girl I've ever seen."

**-I-**

**08:20**

Alexx and Natalia made several, "awws" as they looked at the picture of Riley once again. They had already seen it several times, but they couldn't stop. They had been the same way when the triplets had been born. The women always shrieked of joy did that when the big family got a new addition. The men drank their coffee and laughed at the girls. Even though, Calleigh and Riley were basically out of harms way, they were still slightly worried.

"Look at that nose. It has to be Calleigh's." Alexx smiled.

"It sure is." Natalia said, "She is so tiny."

"She will get bigger in a few weeks. And with Calleigh and Ryan as parents, she will either be petite as her mother or a bit more like her father."

The door to the break room opened and the temporary new ballistic expert, Amber Jensen walked in. She said good morning to everyone and sat down by the table, next to Eric.

"You're here early." Amber said, "You only went home a couple of hours ago."

"Well, we couldn't sleep." Horatio said, knowing that he had had the hardest time sleeping.

"I saw the picture. Riley is really cute." Amber smiled.

"That she is." Frank said, "Are you ready to start?"

"As ready as I can be." Amber said, "What do we do first?"

"You and Frank are going to talk to some junkies that we've run into before, see if they know something about John Grey." Horatio said, "The rest of us are going to process the boat once more, see if we missed something."

Amber nodded and followed Frank as he left the break room. Alexx went back to the morgue and Natalia went to grab her kit. Just as Horatio was about to leave, Eric grabbed his arm.

"What's going on with you H?" He asked, "You didn't get any sleep since we left and you're not eating anymore. It's only a matter of time before Alexx will push you into a corner and force some answers out of you."

"Eric, I'm fine." Horatio said, "It's Mr. Roberts and my parent's murder. Talking about it again after so many years, affects me."

Eric nodded. He didn't completely believe that it was the right answer. However, he knew that Horatio was bothered by Mr. Roberts. And he also knew that Horatio had had some problems before Mr. Roberts even showed up. Eric let go of Horatio and they parted ways. Horatio was going to give his statement to Roberts to get it over with, while Eric and Natalia processed the boat again.

**-I-**

**09:00**

Frank had taken Amber to a place where most junkies hung out. Amber hadn't really been in such a place before and didn't know what to say or how to act. Frank walked passed everyone, showing his badge. He was looking for a junkie that he had arrested several times before and that was now out again. Amber was looking for John Grey; she had a picture of him and tried to see if anyone looked like him.

"Well, you're not very hard to find Jared." Frank said as he looked down at a tired young man.

Jared sighed as he recognized Frank and tried to hide his drugs. Frank put his foot over his hand and Jared stopped moving.

"I'm not using." Jared said, "You can't arrest me for using."

"No, but I can arrest you for having drugs in your possession, and we both know that you sell to anyone who can pay." Frank said.

"I have no idea what you're talking about old man." Jared said, "It's better if you leave."

"Why is that?" Frank asked.

"Well, I know that junkies can get pretty angry when cops are on their territory." Jared smirked.

"Their territory? This place belongs to the state of Florida."

"They ain't using it. We are." Jared said, "Now leave copper!"

Frank grabbed Jared by the collar and pushed him against the wall behind him. Jared brought his hands up over his head.

"Don't you tell me what to do. I'm a cop you idiot." Frank growled, "Now you better tell me what I want to hear or I will make your life a living hell."

"Police brutality!" Jared snapped, "Lady are you seeing this?"

"Seeing what?" Amber asked.

"You're telling me that you're going to let your partner do this to me! He's fucking threatening me! Police brutality!" Jared yelled, "Fuck you!"

Frank punched Jared in the face and let him drop to the ground. Amber stood in front of Frank, to stop him from hitting him again.

"You broke my nose." Jared said.

"Shut up!" Amber said, "Tell us what we want to hear."

"And what is that?" Jared asked.

"Have you seen this man?" Amber asked, showing him a picture of John.

"Yes he was here." Jared said, getting up from the ground, "One hour ago."

"He left?" Amber asked.

"Yeah, he said he someone to talk to." Jared said, "That's all I know."

"That wasn't so hard now was it?" Frank asked, "If you had told me that right away you wouldn't have a broken nose now."

"Fuck you!" Jared snapped.

"Jared." Frank warned, "Since you helped us, I won't arrest your ass, but… I might come back later."

Jared glared at him and sat down on the ground. Frank and Amber walked back to Frank's car.

"Where to now?" Amber asked as he sat down in the passenger seat.

"Let's drive around the area. Maybe John is on his way back." Frank said.

"What will happen if Jared tells another cop what you did?" Amber asked.

"He won't be able to prove it." Frank sighed, "I didn't actually punch him, it just felt like a punch to him and looked like a punch to you. But I just made him slip and hit himself." Frank said, "I'm not proud of it. But he just… made me very impatient. Today is not a good day to test my patience."

"I understand." Amber said, "Let's find John."

Frank nodded and drove past Jared and his crew. Jared glared at Frank again, but Frank ignored him. They passed several small buildings that were once factories.

"When did this place become a home for junkies?" Amber asked.

"Eight years ago. A rich man, who was making pillows and sheets, owned this place. Then one day he decided to take a flight to Fiji and relax. The factory closed and the few workers he had, just found a new job. But before the state of Florida had the chance to build something new, the junkies had moved in and taken over." Frank said, "And everything just stayed that way. It's not like a community or something for the junkies. Most of them just spend one night here, while a few of them have lived here for years."

"Can't they do anything about it?" Amber asked, "The state, I mean."

"They can, but it's not exactly their top priority." Frank said, "Look at that hole in the fence."

Frank had stopped the car right next to a fence that led out to a beach. If you walked long enough on the beach you eventually reached downtown Miami.

"It looks fresh somehow." Amber said, "And there a shoeprints in the sand."

Frank and Amber got out of the car and Amber checked the fence, she found some ripped clothes and some blood.

"However left through here, cut himself." Amber said, "Maybe it's John Grey."

"I hope so." Frank said, "Let's get back to the lab."

**-I-**

**09:20**

Horatio knew that Mr. Roberts kept Horatio waiting as revenge. Mr. Roberts apparently wanted Horatio to be treated the same he, himself, had been. By being kept waiting. Horatio sighed and leaned back in the chair outside the small room that Mr. Roberts had been given to have as an office, while he was here. Paul had given it to him. He liked Mr. Roberts, because he liked to torture Horatio. However, Mr. Roberts didn't want to torture Horatio, like Paul though he wanted. Therefore, Paul was just embarrassing himself all the time in front of Mr. Roberts. The door finally opened and Mr. Roberts waved Horatio inside. Horatio sat down by a table, and Mr. Robert said down across him.

"So you have finally agreed to talk huh?" Mr. Roberts asked.

"I have a case, and I think it has a higher priority than a case from more then thirty years ago. That has already been solved." Horatio said.

"I understand." Mr. Roberts said, "So you don't think that the case will take a different spin this time?"

"No, why should it?" Horatio asked.

"Well, you could be convicted of murder." Mr. Roberts said, "The young lawyer in NY, Mr. Neil Jacobs, is a very good lawyer."

"And he also after money am I right?"

"Yes you are." Mr. Roberts sighed, "I am after the truth. So why don't you tell me the truth."

"Okay." Horatio said, "I came home early from school one day…

_**Flashback**_

_15-year-old Horatio Caine was dragging his feet as he walked home. He hated going home. But his teachers were going away on a conference and had therefore sent him and his classmates' home. The only good thing about coming home early was the fact that he go to be with his mother, while his father was at work. It was almost impossible for him to spend some time with her when his father was home. He always made his mother work and she was only allowed to spend time with her husband. Mrs. Jane Caine didn't like it. She felt as if she barely knew her sons because of it, but she didn't like to be beaten, so she obeyed her husband. As Horatio reached the front door, he opened it and stepped inside._

"_Mom?" He called, he got no reply, so yelled again a little louder._

_He shrugged and walked towards the kitchen. That's when he saw the image that would haunt him forever. His mother was lying on the floor in a pool of her own blood, severely beaten! Horatio gasped and took two steps back. When the shock was over, he knelt down next to her and tried to make her wake up._

"_Mom?" He asked, "Please wake up."_

_Horatio stood up as he heard footsteps behind him. His father, Craig Caine looked at his son with eyes filled with anger and fear. His hands were bloody and bruised. _

"_What did you do?!" Horatio growled, "You killed her!"_

_Craig slapped his son across the face and grabbed his shoulders._

"_What are you doing here so early?" Craig asked._

"_It doesn't matter!" Horatio screamed, "You're insane!"_

_Craig growled and pushed his son backwards. Horatio hit his head on the kitchen counter. _

"_Murderer!" He growled._

_Craig glared at his son and started kicking and hitting him. Horatio tried to crawl away, but his father kept on kicking him. _

"_You do not call me a murderer!" Craig growled and picked his son up._

_Horatio kicked his father's knees and Craig groaned in pain. He pushed Horatio backwards again, but this time Horatio stayed on his feet. As Craig was about to hit him again, Horatio pushed him back with all the strength he had. Craig stumbled and fell down, hitting his head on the corner of the table. After that, Craig did no longer move. Horatio passed out just as the police arrived._

_**End of Flashback**_

Mr. Roberts looked at Horatio with sad eyes. He had already read the same statement once, the statement that Horatio had given the detective in charge of the investigation. Dt. More. Horatio looked down on the floor and tried not to cry. He hated talking about his parents deaths. He hated the memory, because it was one of the few memories he had left, and it was the worst one.

"Well, I can see that Dt. More investigated right thirty years ago." Mr. Roberts said, "It was clearly self-defense."

Horatio nodded and looked at Mr. Roberts.

"Can you say this in court, if it comes to it?" Mr. Roberts said, "I spoke with a colleague in NY, and she said that it might not be necessary for you to testify. But that you should still be prepared for it."

"So I'm free to go now?" Horatio asked.

"Yes, well… I will call you and tell you how everything goes."

"Thank you."

"No problem." Mr. Roberts said, "Be prepared though, Neil Jacobs if a stubborn bastard."

"So am I." Horatio said.

"I've noticed that." Mr. Roberts smiled, "We'll talk later."

Horatio nodded and left. He sighed as he walked back to his office. The memory kept repeating itself in his mind and it was driving him crazy. He started pacing in his office, trying to get the image of his dead mother out of his mind. Suddenly Horatio rushed towards the bathroom and threw up. He couldn't help it. He sighed and leaned towards the wall. He cursed as his phone rang.

"Horatio." He answered, "I'll be right there."

He was needed in the morgue. He drank some water and took a deep breath before going down to Alexx. He knew he had to look alive and well, or Alexx would ask him all the tough questions. And he wouldn't be able to give her a good answer.

"Hey Alexx, what have you got?" He asked.

Alexx pointed at Ratner's body. And then sneezed. She had already been home for a short while because she had a cold. However, she was doing a lot better and was working again.

"Well, I found something very interesting when I took another look at his body. Something popped up on the X-Ray." Alexx smiled and gave Horatio a small metal piece.

_**(305)- 5550133**_

"That's… my phone number." Horatio said.

"Exactly." Alexx said, "Now why would Ratner have your phone number, implanted in his foot?"

"His foot?"

"Yes, that's where I found it." Alexx said, "This man is full surprises."

Horatio shrugged. He was amazed that Ratner had even known his phone number. Suddenly he lost focus and grabbed the edge of the table. Alexx grabbed his arm quickly.

"Whoa." Horatio said.

"Are you okay?" Alexx asked, "And don't tell me that you're fine. Have you eaten anything today?"

"Um, not yet." Horatio sighed, "I will Alexx."

"Yes, you will, right now." Alexx said.

"Alexx."

"Horatio, if you don't eat and sleep you will collapse. So go and eat and get some sleep."

Horatio sighed and nodded. He left the morgue.

**-I-**

**13:45**

Calleigh opened her eyes and blinked at the sudden bright light. She groaned and turned her head away from the window. As she got used to the light she looked around her room and down at her belly. She wasn't pregnant anymore. She sat up quickly in bed and lifted her shirt up.

"Where is…" She said, "Where's my baby?"

Tears ran down her cheeks as she climbed out of bed and looked down at her belly again; she couldn't be seeing what she saw. Stitches on her belly, but no baby.

"Where's my baby?!" She yelled and cried.

She ran towards the door and peeked outside, just in time to see Ryan walk towards her. When Ryan spotted her, he ran towards her and hugged her.

"Calleigh! You're awake!" He smiled, "I've been so worried. I mean you did squeeze my hand earlier today, but you didn't open your eyes."

"Ryan! Where's our baby!?" Calleigh growled.

Ryan led her back to the bed and Calleigh laid down, waiting for an answer.

"You don't remember?" Ryan asked.

"What?" Calleigh asked.

"You went into labor many hours ago, and were forced to give birth." Ryan said, "Either that or Riley was going to die."

"Riley, where is she?"

"She is in an incubator. She will be for two days. She's fine." Ryan smiled and Calleigh relaxed.

"You gave birth early this morning." Ryan said, "Then you went into cardiac arrest."

"Why?"

"I don't know. Neither does Dr. Boston." Ryan shrugged, "But now you're awake and well enough to yell, so I think we can both agree that you're fine."

"I feel fine." Calleigh said, "Oh Ryan, I want to see her."

"You will." Ryan said, "Maybe Dr. Boston should check you out first."

"No, take me to her right now!" Calleigh demanded.

Ryan nodded and took Calleigh's hand. Together they walked towards the room in which their daughter was. One of the nurses recognized Calleigh and called for Dr. Boston. Riley was awake when Ryan and Calleigh looked down at her. Calleigh started crying, but this time it was happy tears.

"Oh, she is so beautiful!" Calleigh smiled widely, "Hi Riley. I'm your momma."

Ryan embraced Calleigh and kissed her softly.

"Look at her. Isn't she the sweetest baby you've ever seen?" Calleigh sobbed, "I can't wait to hold her."

"Mrs. Wolfe." Dr. Boston said as he joined the couple, "I see you're awake."

"I'm fine." Calleigh said.

"It appears so yes. But I still want to examine you." Dr. Boston said, "Don't rush though. Enjoy being with your daughter."

"Thank you." Calleigh smiled.

Ryan kissed her again.

_**TBC…**_

**AN: Please review!**


	7. Chapter 7

**AN: A big **_**Thank You **_**to _Daisyangel_ for the prank-suggestion!**

**Sunday June 30th****. 10:30**

"Why do we have to do it?" Frank whined.

Alexx crossed her arms and looked at him. She had just told Frank and Horatio that they had to bake a cake and some cookies for the small get together that the team was having. For two reasons. To celebrate Frank's birthday and to celebrate the birth of Riley. Riley had been able to go home with her parents two days ago and now it was time for the team to meet her. Though she was only four days old. Calleigh and Ryan didn't see any problem with having the big family meet her for just a few hours.

"Because you and Horatio are both good cooks." Alexx said.

"Yes, but this isn't food we're supposed to make. It's a cake and cookies." Frank whined.

"Frank Tripp! You are going to make this cake with Horatio. Because I tell you to. Now please be a good boy and help him out." Alexx said.

"Alright then." Frank sighed and joined Horatio in the kitchen.

Horatio smiled amused at Frank. Frank glared at him. Everybody knew that Frank could cook, even if he refused to admit it. Horatio had no problem admitting that he could cook though.

"Wipe that smile off your face." Frank growled, "And let's just start and get it over with."

"Let's start with the cookies." Horatio said, "We need flour."

Frank put the flour on the kitchen counter. Horatio read at few other ingredients and Frank put them all on the counter. Then he sighed and went to sit down by the kitchen table. Alexx was quickly there and pushed him up.

"Okay, okay, okay." Frank said and joined Horatio by the counter again.

"How many cookies are we making?" Frank asked.

"700." Horatio replied.

"700?!" Frank exclaimed, "That will take forever!"

"No, only about two or three hours. Maybe four." Horatio shrugged and managed to hide a smile.

He knew that the kids coming to the party wouldn't eat 700 cookies. However, the cookies would be used to something else. Something Ryan, Cooper and Horatio had planned for a long time. Frank sighed and started making the cookie dough with Horatio. They had a bowl each, it took some time, but eventually they started to form medium sized, round, cookies and put them on a plate, and then they shoved them in the oven.

"How many do we have left now?" He asked after thirty minutes of baking.

"625." Horatio smiled, "See, I told it would go fast."

"Fast? Horatio we have a large amount of cookies left to make?"

"Yes, but in 30 minutes we made 75 cookies." Horatio smiled.

Frank shrugged and continued baking. After a while, he started getting really bored but he kept on baking.

After all, what else was he supposed to do?

Alexx, her husband Tony and her two children were fixing the table and the chairs on the back porch. The little get together was taking place at Alexx's house, because she had the perfect place for it. It was big enough to fit everyone in. After all, her kids would be there, Frank's youngest daughter and then four babies and many adults. A car stopped outside the house and Eric and Cooper got out of the car. As they entered the house, they saw a smiling Horatio and a bitter Frank baking cookies. Cooper whispered something in Horatio's ear and grinned evilly at Frank. Frank didn't see it; however Eric did and looked confused at Cooper.

"You'll see." Cooper grinned at Eric's confused look, and left Horatio and Frank alone.

He and Eric joined Alexx and her family on the back porch. Tony offered them a beer.

"Thanks." Eric said and took the beer.

"Aren't you driving?" Bryan, Alexx's son, asked.

"Nah, Horatio can drive home." Eric smiled.

"Mom, when I can start driving?" Bryan asked and looked with puppy dog eyes at his mother.

Alexx sighed. Horatio had apparently taught both her children how to do the so called "puppy face".

"Bryan, I am not falling for that face. If Horatio can't make me fall for it, than neither can you." Alexx smirked.

"You will one day." Bryan said.

Eric chuckled and then started playing football with Bryan and his sister Jamie. After a while, they managed to get Cooper to join them.

**-I-**

**11:45**

"Ryan, you've checked her twice already. She's fine." Calleigh smiled as her husband checked Riley as she was sitting in the car. Riley was smaller then most babies, since she had been born seven weeks too early, but she was doing fine and so was Calleigh. Even though, the doctors still had no idea why Calleigh had slipper into cardiac arrest during Riley's birth. Both mother and daughter were doing great and enjoyed being home.

"I just want to make sure." Ryan said and then sat down on the driver's side of the car.

Calleigh squeezed his hand and smiled at him. She knew that since Riley had been born, Ryan's OCD had been put through a tough test. Riley had already thrown up on him once and for Ryan it had been a challenge to handle. But he had managed it perfectly. He would always have OCD though. However, it wasn't something that bothered Calleigh. It was after all, one of the things that made Ryan a great CSI.

"I think she has inherited your personality." Calleigh smiled, "She is so calm."

"Just wait until she gets older." Ryan chuckled, "Riley will be just like her mother."

Calleigh chuckled. The drive home to Alexx took almost thirty minutes, now that Calleigh and Ryan lived in Ryan's apartment. When Calleigh had lived in her own apartment, she had lived very close to Alexx.

"Alexx told me that Horatio and Frank are making cookies and a cake." Calleigh grinned, "Can you imagine those two in an apron?"

"I'm pretty sure they're not wearing one." Ryan said.

"You're probably right. I wonder how long it will take before Frank and Horatio starts arguing about how long it takes to bake." Calleigh chuckled and Ryan agreed.

As they arrived at Alexx's house, Alexx ran out to meet them and meet Riley for the first time. Alexx smiled widely as she saw little sleeping Riley.

"Aw, she is so cute!" She smiled.

"She's an angel." Ryan smiled widely.

Once inside, everybody else got the chance to say hello to little Riley. Frank grinned as he got to hold his goddaughter.

"Where is Natalia?" Calleigh asked.

"She had to run a few errands, she'll be here soon." Frank smiled, "Hey there Riley."

Riley started to whimper as she saw Frank and everybody laughed.

"I don't she likes you Frank." Horatio teased.

"As soon as she sees your red hair she will scream." Frank said and gave Riley to Horatio.

And as Frank had said, Riley did start to scream as she saw Horatio. Calleigh laughed and took the baby from Horatio.

"I think she's hungry." She smiled.

"I told you she would scream." Frank grinned.

"You can feed her in our bedroom, sweetie." Alexx said.

Calleigh nodded and walked away with her daughter. Frank was still laughing at Horatio as both men started baking again.

"How many cookies do they have left?" Ryan asked Cooper quietly.

"470." Cooper grinned, "They're working fast. Especially H."

"Good." Ryan smirked evilly.

"Oh no, don't tell me this is another prank." Eric sighed, "Are you ever going to stop?"

"Yes, when someone get's seriously hurt or I, sorry, _we_ win." Ryan smiled.

"Who are we?" Eric asked.

"You, me, Cooper and H." Ryan said, "You're in this together with us, Eric."

Eric shrugged and he, Ryan and Cooper left Frank and Horatio alone in the kitchen.

After more then an hour, Valera, Jason and the triplets had arrived, as well as Natalia and Amber. Natalia had been told to buy some frosting for the cake. What she didn't know was that Horatio, Ryan and Cooper needed the frosting for another reason. The house was now filled with baby sounds and three teenagers playing in the pool. They had managed to pull down Natalia in the pool as well, and now they tried to play volleyball in the water. It was hard to move, which made it more fun.

"You and Jamie are loosing." Alexx laughed.

"Never!" Natalia chuckled.

Natalia and Jamie were on the same team, and Bryan and Frank's daughter Madeline were on the other team.

Cooper was trying to deal with a staring baby. Jan was staring at him as he was holding her. He smiled at her and tried to make her focus on something else, but she only saw Cooper. And she was drooling. Cooper looked down at his wet shirt and sighed.

"Does she always do this?" He asked.

"Yeah." Jason grinned, "But I told her to drool a little extra when she saw you."

"What do I do?" Cooper asked, "How do I make her smile?"

"Make funny noises." Jason smirked.

Cooper tried to make funny noises, but the only one laughing was Jason at Cooper's failed attempt to make Jan smile.

In the kitchen, Horatio and Frank only had 190 cookies left. They were working very fast. Frank was starting to wonder if they really needed 700 cookies.

"Are we going to have time to make the cake?" Frank asked.

"No, so I am going to ask for some extra help." Horatio grinned and left the kitchen. He came back a while later with Tony, Alexx's husband. Tony smiled and started baking the cake.

"My arms hurt." Frank whined.

"You'll live through it." Tony said.

"Easy for you to say, you just started baking." Frank said.

"Frank, I work at a café and spend my whole day baking cookies and cakes." Tony smiled."So why aren't you doing this?" Frank asked.

"Because Alexx told us to do it." Horatio said and Frank shrugged.

Once Tony finished with the cake, he left. Horatio and Frank were now down to 145 cookies left. Frank was bored. Horatio had a constant grin in his face, and Frank couldn't figure out why. Out on the porch, everybody started eating from the cake. They weren't expecting be given cookies. Since Ryan and Cooper had told them, why they needed the cookies.

"You are so evil!" Natalia chuckled, "Is that why you asked me to buy so much frosting?"

"Yes, we need it." Cooper grinned.

"I can't believe you two." Natalia shook her head.

"Hey, Horatio and Eric knew about it!" Ryan said.

"I had no idea until now." Eric said.

"Okay, not Eric, but Horatio is working with us." Ryan smirked, "Don't tell Frankie."

"Alright, I won't." Natalia said.

Since she was actually on the opposite side in the prank-war, she should warn Frank. However, if she did, she wouldn't enjoy the revenge on H, Ryan and Cooper.

After another hour, Frank and Horatio put the last cookies in the oven. Frank sighed and grabbed the flour pack. It was the last flour pack, but it still had a lot of flour in it. Horatio also had a flour pack left. Frank grinned and decided to have some fun. Therefore, without hesitation he threw some flour at Horatio's face. Horatio gasped and glared at Frank. He grabbed his own flour pack and threw flour on Frank, it hit his chest. Frank grabbed some flour and threw it at Horatio again, this time hitting his stomach. Horatio did the same, and managed to hit Frank's face. Soon, flour was flying across the room, and Horatio and Frank were covered in it, as were the walls.

"What are they doing?" Alexx asked, as she heard Frank laugh like a lunatic.

Everybody peeked inside the kitchen and saw their boss and the big Texan throwing flour at each other and trying to push each other down on the flour-filled floor.

"Wow!" Valera grinned, "Videotape this!"

Eric nodded and started videotaping everything with the camera on his cell phone. Horatio jumped up on Frank's back and tried to push him down. Frank grabbed Horatio's shoulders and dragged him over his head and down on the floor. As Frank tried to back away, he slipped and fell down on the floor himself.

"Alright! It's over!" Alexx yelled.

Frank and Horatio stood up, trying to brush the flour off themselves. Everybody grinned at them.

"Well, guess what boys? You now have to clean it all up." Alexx grinned, "Look at the walls."

Horatio and Frank blushed as they looked at the wall. The walls were covered in flour.

"Sorry Alexx, we'll clean it up." Horatio said.

"Yes you will. Tony give them what they need to clean up." Alexx chuckled.

"Have fun." Eric teased and left with everybody else to go back to the porch again. They watched the video and laughed while Frank and Horatio started cleaning. As Frank was busy cleaning one of the four walls in the kitchen, Horatio carefully placed all the cookies in a big box and placed it outside the kitchen for Cooper and Ryan to pick up. Cooper and Ryan smirked and picked the box up, and then they went outside to where the cars were.

"After this I think we both need a shower." Frank said.

"I'm first!" Horatio said.

"No, I am." Frank said.

"Let's just see who gets there first." Horatio grinned.

It was Horatio who showered first and then Frank. As they were both done, Cooper and Ryan came back inside the house. They smirked at Frank and told him that he had a beautiful car. Frank looked confused at them and joined everybody else on the porch.

"So Frank, as I said, you have such a beautiful car." Cooper smirked.

"I heard you the first time." Frank sighed.

Everybody tried not to laugh and Frank rolled his eyes.

"Okay, what's going on?" He asked.

"Just take a look at your car." Horatio chuckled.

Frank shrugged and walked towards the front door, everybody followed him. As soon as he opened the door and saw his car, he gaped and just stared at it. Everybody else started laughing. Frank's car was covered in cookies and frosting. Frank glared at Horatio, Ryan and Cooper.

"Now I get it! Now I know why we baked 700 cookies and why you forced Natalia to by frosting!" Frank growled and started chasing Horatio around the house. Natalia tried to get the cookies away from the car, but it was impossible.

"Did you use superglue?" She asked.

"No, but it will take a long time to get them off." Cooper laughed.

**-I-**

**15:00**

John smirked as he read the case file in the lab. Whoever was supposed to be working in the lab during the weekend had a case, and so the lab was practically empty. Especially the morgue. John was reading Alexx's report on what she had found on Ratner's body.

"A phone number. We'll have to find out, whose number that is." He muttered to himself. He looked down at Ratner's body and grinned.

"You wrote down the latitude and longitude of the meeting you old fool." John chuckled and shook his head, "On your feet, and then you implanted a metal piece with a phone number as well. Wow, you really were stupid Ratner."

John hid behind a table as someone entered the lab and picked something up. Whoever it was noticed that Ratner's body was lying in plain sight and closed the door to the small little space that he was lying in. John sighed and as soon as the person left, he came out from his little hiding place. He was still holding the file and decided to take it with him as he sneaked out of the morgue and towards his car, which was parked across the street. As soon as he sat down in the driver's seat, the passenger door opened and Rick sat down.

"You again." John sighed.

"Who are you? Who are you and how do you know Ratner?" Rick asked.

"I'm John. Your cellmate." John sighed.

"How do you know Ratner?"

"I don't." John said.

"Then why in hell were you inside the morgue?" Rick asked and took the file from John, he looked through the pages.

"This is Lt. Caine's phone number." Rick said.

"Who cares? The man I work for wanted to see the file." John sighed, "Now get out of the car."

"You want to me to leave? I can tell the cops about you."

"And risk getting caught yourself? As you said to me before, you want what Ratner wanted." John smirked.

"And what is that?" Rick asked.

"You tell me. I have no idea. I just came here to get this file and leave." John said.

"Why only this file? There is a bigger case file in the lab. This is only the ME's report." Rick said.

John smirked at Rick, "There's more?"

Rick realized his mistake and shook his head. He wasn't going to help John, but he couldn't tell the cops what he was doing either. John grabbed Rick's neck and squeezed hard.

"There's more?" He asked again.

"In the lab. In Lt. Caine's office." Rick said.

"Nice try. You just want me to go inside the lab and get caught." John growled.

"No, you already managed to walk through the lab right?" Rick asked.

"Yes, but that doesn't mean that you haven't planned something, Ricky." John said and let go of Rick.

"John, this isn't you." Rick sighed.

"And how am I supposed to be then?"

"A junkie. A criminal who doesn't harm people, but only wants drugs." Rick sighed.

"I still am a junkie, Ricky. But this time I want more money then before." John smirked evilly, "Can you get me inside the lab?"

Rick shook his head. He might not always have liked Horatio and his team, but he wasn't going to help John steal from the lab.

"Ricky." John growled and showed Rick a gun that he had been given, "I'm giving you one more chance."

"I won't help you." Rick said.

John didn't hesitate and shot Rick in the left shoulder. Rick screamed and clutched his shoulder. The street that John had parked on was so deserted that no one heard the shot.

"You're crazy!" Rick growled and hissed in pain.

"Will you help me or not? Last chance." John smirked and pointed his gun and Rick's temple.

Rick nodded and John smirked evilly. He got out of the car and went to open the door for Rick. He pulled Rick out of the car and they walked back towards the morgue to get inside the lab that way.

"Where is everybody?" Rick asked.

"Gone. Possibly on a case." John smirked, "No one is watching us."

"The surveillance cameras are." Rick said.

"But who is watching the cameras then?" John smirked, "No one."

He had already checked the guy who was supposed to be watching the cameras, and he was asleep. Rick hissed in pain as John grabbed his arm and pushed him towards a door.

"Come on." John said, "Open it."

"What? Too lazy to do it yourself?" Rick asked.

John hit Rick in the face with the gun and Rick screamed in pain. Rick opened the door and peeked inside. When he didn't see anyone. He walked through the door, with John close behind him. The lab was empty, except for one person. A lab tech, that was working in the AV Lab. His name was Malcolm Nichols. He had started working for the lab only two weeks ago, and enjoyed working on weekends. As soon as he turned around and saw John and Rick, John shot him through the glass. Right between the eyes.

"What the hell did you do!" Rick exclaimed, "He was innocent!"

"He saw us, you idiot." John growled, "Now we have to move quickly, where is the office?"

"I won't tell you." Rick said firmly.

"Rick, I'm tired of playing games." John said.

John got nervous as he heard people running towards them. He growled and punched Rick in the face, before running out of the lab the same way he had entered. Rick hissed in pain and then ran after John. John drove away with his car just as Rick was about to grab the door handle. Rick looked for a place to hide and ran down the street. He heard two police officers shout after him, and Rick knew that they thought he had killed Malcolm Nichols. Rick ran through a hedge and then towards the beach. The officer's voices grew louder and Rick knew he had to hide quickly. He found some large rocks and managed to hide in a big crack. He couldn't hear the officers anymore and knew that he was safe for the moment.

**-I-**

**15:45**

Frank sighed as he looked down at the body of young Malcolm Nichols. Horatio stood next to him and shook his head. The officers that had followed Rick, had recognized him and after watching the surveillance cameras, Ryan had told them that John and Rick had been in both the hallway outside the morgue and the lab, and that John had been the one shooting Malcolm. However, Alexx had no idea that she was missing a file, since there were no cameras inside the morgue. It was on the to-do- list of MDPD. And it had been for the last eight months.

"Poor boy. You didn't see it coming." Alexx said and she spoke softly to the victim.

"Apparently the weekend shift was out on different cases, two murders and a robbery." Frank sighed, "And half of the lab techs had called in sick."

"And the other half?" Horatio asked.

"Out on lunch." Frank said, "Malcolm rarely ate lunch and therefore happened to be here as John and Rick showed up."

"It's strange though. Where is their receptionist Lisa?" Horatio asked.

"We can't find her." Eric sighed, "I've tried calling her ten times, both on her cell phone and to her home, she's not answering."

"Keep on trying." Horatio said.

Alexx gave the bullet to Amber who immediately went to process it. The weekend shift was standing outside the crime scene tape. They knew that they weren't allowed to work with the case. However, they still wanted to know what Horatio and his team found.

"Nat and I can start processing." Ryan said.

"No, you're on two weeks paternity-leave remember? You go home and enjoy spending time with your wife and daughter." Horatio said.

Ryan nodded and left. Eric and Natalia started printing the walls, all the way from the lab to the morgue. They would without a doubt find both John and Rick's prints, and also Rick's blood. But maybe they could also find a substance on the prints, that could tell them where John and Rick had been before.

"Rick was running on his own." Horatio said, "And by the looks of it on the tapes, John was pushing Rick towards the lab."

"They're fighting." Frank said, "And John left without Rick."

"Exactly. Remember that Rick was clutching his left shoulder? I think that John hurt him." Horatio said.

"So if we find Rick, maybe he can tell us where to find John." Frank said.

"Exactly."

Horatio followed Alexx down to the morgue, while Frank took some more statements from the officers and lab techs who had been working in or close to the lab. There wasn't much Alexx could do with Malcolm. His death was obvious and the time too. However, she was at least going to wash him up and take off his clothes since there was glass on them.

"Poor boy." Alexx sighed, "IAB is going to be here soon."

She looked over at Horatio and noticed that he was sitting on a chair, holding his head. She went over to him.

"Honey, you're shaking!" She said, "What's wrong Horatio?"

Horatio took several deep breaths and groaned. His head was killing him and he was freezing. Suddenly his eyes lost focus and he closed his eyes. Alexx grabbed his shoulders as he passed out.

"Call an ambulance!" Alexx shouted.

_**TBC…**_

**AN: I love to torture Horatio, *Evil laughter*. Please review!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Sunday June 30****th****. 16:50**

"For the third time. I'm fine!" Horatio snapped and put his shirt on.

For the last fifty minutes, doctors and nurses had been poking him and trying to figure out why he had passed out. Horatio had told him that he was under a lot of stress thanks to Mr. Roberts and that he was currently trying to find a killer and two escaped convicts. Eric had confirmed that Mr. Roberts had caused Horatio to be stressed out and worried. However, he also told the doctors that Horatio hadn't eaten or slept well in the last two weeks.

"You're not fine if you pass out." Eric said.

"We both know why I passed out." Horatio said, "I will sleep and eat more. I promise."

Eric snorted. He knew Horatio. And he knew that he would keep on staying awake all night and avoid eating. Not to mention he seemed to throw up every time he ate.

"H, could please just stay here over night?" Eric begged.

Horatio shook his head and jumped off the bed. His lack of sleep and food made him very agitated, and Eric tried his best not to piss him off. As Horatio walked out of the room, with Eric close behind, he bumped into Alexx in the hallway.

"Did the doctor tell you to leave?" She asked.

"Yes."

"No." Eric said, "They want him to stay here over the night, since they're not sure if he is okay."

"I am perfectly fine." Horatio sighed and walked towards the elevator.

If Alexx was strong enough she would have dragged him back to the room. But she wasn't. And neither was Eric.

"Should I call for backup?" Eric asked.

What he meant was that he would call Frank and ask him to drag Horatio back to his room. Horatio turned around and looked with pleading eyes at Eric.

"Eric, if it will make you happier. I will go home and get some sleep." Horatio said softly.

He gave Eric his puppy-face look, and he knew that Eric couldn't resist it. Eric sighed and looked at Alexx. Alexx nodded, she was fine with it. She trusted Horatio and knew about the whole Mr. Roberts deal. She knew that some time away from work, might just help Horatio get back on track.

"Okay." Eric sighed, "Promise me that you will sleep?"

"I promise." Horatio smiled slightly.

Eric and Alexx got inside the elevator with him. Eric drove Horatio home, while Alexx went back to the morgue. In the car, Horatio got hungry. Eric stopped at a small diner and bought them both something to eat. Once they were home, Horatio kissed Eric goodbye and Eric left. As soon as the hummer was gone, Horatio ran to the bathroom and threw up once again. Then he lay down on the couch and tried to close his eyes. He failed. After two hours, he decided to take a shower. It was the last thing he remembered doing.

**-I-**

**17:30**

Lisa, the receptionist on the weekend shift, had never seen the interrogation rooms at MDPD before. After all, she spent her weekends behind a desk, answering the phone, writing down messages and trying to keep awake. She was tired of her job.

"Ms. Turner." Frank said, "You're a hard woman to find. You don't answer your phone and don't even show up to work. Hell, we even had to go to the airport to find you."

"I was taking a little vacation." Lisa sighed.

"You haven't asked for permission from your boss." Natalia said, "And you didn't call in sick today. You just didn't show up."

"So? I skipped work."

"Well, it's a little too convenient that it happened the same day that two escaped convicts broke into the lab and shot a lab tech." Natalia said, "And that the same day that you skipped work, you also decided to take a little trip to Jamaica."

"I like to do spontaneous things." Lisa sighed.

"Well, here is what it looks like. You got paid to stay away from work and therefore you also helped Malcolm's murderer, so you're going to be charged with felony murder." Frank smirked.

"What?" Lisa exclaimed, "No wait! I was paid to skip work today. I had no idea that anyone would shoot Malcolm, or break into the lab."

"Well, what did you think then? That whoever paid you did it just for fun?" Natalia asked.

"No, I got the money by mail. A big envelope." Lisa sighed, "Fifty thousand dollars. And a note that said, I should stay awake from work today."

"Did you get that envelope today?" Frank asked.

"Yeah, early this morning, just as I was about to go to work." Lisa said, "Look, you have to believe me."

"No, I don't. But we will print that envelope and the money." Natalia said, "But things don't look so good for you."

Lisa nodded and leaned back in the chair. She could deal with loosing her job, but not being sent to jail. Natalia and Frank left the room.

"What do you think?" Frank asked.

"I think she's telling the truth. But, I don't think John gave her the money." Natalia said, "I think John works for someone, who paid Lisa."

"I agree." Frank sighed.

Alexx panted as she walked up to the pair. She had been looking for someone in the team and now she had finally found two.

"What's going on Alexx?" Natalia asked.

"Somebody stole my file on Ratner." Alexx said.

Natalia and Frank followed Alexx down to the morgue. Alexx showed them the desk drawer where she kept all her files, it was supposed to be locked. But the lock had been picked. Alexx hadn't thought about checking her desk for missing files, because Rick and John hadn't never been seen entering the morgue on the surveillance tapes.

"They were here." Alexx sighed, "And they stole his file."

"Why would they do that?" Frank asked.

"Everything I found on Ratner's body was written down in that file. They can see what the autopsy revealed." Alexx sighed, "But it would be a lot smarter to take Horatio's file. He always has the big file, where we all put our reports."

Natalia groaned as she figured out why John and Rick had gone to the lab in the first place.

"They were looking for that file." Natalia sighed, "And by the looks of it on the tapes, Rick was being forced to guide John."

"And then Malcolm just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time." Frank sighed, "I'll see how the search for Rick and John is going."

"I'll have to check Ratner's body for evidence left from John." Alexx sighed, "Hopefully he touched him."

"I'll print the desk. Eric and I already found several prints from Rick and John in the hallway. Eric is working with it right now." Natalia said, and put on some gloves.

It turned out later, that John's prints were all over the desk, but he hadn't touched Ratner's body.

**-I-**

**17:50**

Cooper was quite famous for always sleeping on the job. And today was no exception. IAB Srgt. Paul, found Cooper in the AV lab. Sleeping with his head on the desk, but that is not what caused Paul to lie on the floor, laughing like a maniac. Cooper's job was to finish what Malcolm had been working on. It was a job that only required about two hours of work, and apparently, two hours was enough to make Cooper fall asleep.

"Has Paul lost his mind?" Jason asked as he stood next to Eric, who was grinning.

"No, he just saw Cooper and Cooper's new outfit." Eric grinned.

Jason walked towards Cooper's lab and burst out laughing at the sight before him. There were several pink and yellow ribbons around his head. He was also dressed in a shirt with the playboy logo on it, and no pants. However, the funniest thing was the pink tutu he was wearing. The suspect list of who had changed Cooper's clothes was very small. In fact, there was only person everyone could think of. The big Texan named Frank Tripp. Tripp walked past Jason and looked innocent.

"Why are you all looking at me?" He asked and tried not to smirk.

"Have you ever worked at extreme makeover?" Jason asked.

"No, but I did apply for a job there once." Frank smirked, "If anyone tells Cooper how he is dressed, I will commit murder on that person."

Everyone promised not to say a word. Paul had finally stopped laughing and approached Eric. Eric tried not to get angry as Paul smirked at him.

"I heard that Lt. Caine passed out in the morgue." Paul smirked, "I guess we all come to a point when we have to quit."

"He doesn't need to quit Paul. Now what do you want?" Eric asked.

"Well, someone in the lab got shot. I have to investigate."

"You can investigate all you want, just not here. And he wasn't just someone, he was Malcolm." Eric said, "It could be nice if you at least knew his name."

"Malcolm." Paul sighed, "A victim like any other."

Eric grabbed Paul by the collar and pushed him against the wall. Jason was quickly there to calm Eric down. After a few minutes, Eric let go of Paul.

"I will take you down to the morgue, and we can discuss the case." Jason said, and winked at Eric.

"Why the morgue?" Paul asked.

"Alexx can tell you more." Jason smirked.

Paul shrugged and walked towards the morgue. Jason smirked evilly as he followed him. Eric shook his head and went back to work with the fingerprints. He was trying to find a substance on the surface of the prints; maybe it would tell him where John or Rick had recently been. As he was working, Cooper woke up and entered Eric's lab. Eric had to bite the inside of his cheek, to prevent himself from laughing. It was a good thing, that Cooper was wearing underwear, because the tutu didn't hide much.

"How long was I out?" Cooper asked.

"Not long at all." Eric said, "But long enough for Fra…Never mind."

"For what?" Cooper asked.

"No, nothing." Eric sighed, "Look at this. I found something."

"What?"

"Let me check." Eric said and checked what he had found from Rick's print.

"Dirt." Eric sighed, "Wait a minute…"

"Dirt? Dirt is everywhere." Cooper said.

"This is a special kind of dirt." Eric smiled, "It has trace of cocoa in it."

"Cocoa?"

"Yes, and I know exactly where to find this kind of dirt." Eric smiled.

"Where?"

"In an underground basement. A family once built a basement in the middle of the woods, to have a place to keep the cocoa." Eric explained, "But by the time the basement was done, the head of the family had died and the rest of the family was so sad that they packed up their things and left."

"And Rick and John were hiding there?"

"At least Rick was, but I'll see if I can find the same substance on John's print." Eric said, "This is good."

"Yeah, they were hiding in a basement with cocoa. They've probably left already." Cooper sighed.

"Yes, but someone might have seen them there and at least it's a little step forward in the investigation." Eric said.

"Well, I'm going home." Cooper smiled and left.

**-I-**

**18:15**

Rick finally had the courage enough to stop hiding on the beach. He sighed and sneaked around some buildings in downtown Miami. He saw cops everywhere, and knew that it was a miracle that he had managed to stay hidden this far. He had no idea where John was, but if he found him, he was going to beat the shit out of him. Rick was bleeding from his shoulder, where John had shot him. It hurt like hell too. Rick found a ladder and climbed up on a roof on a diner. He looked down over the edge and saw two cops, and both of them had a dog. Rick walked away from the edge and looked around for something to get to another roof. He didn't want to take the risk and climb down the ladder; he was much safer on the roof. Because nobody would search the roofs after him. Without hesitation, Rick jumped from one roof to another. He landed softly and ran towards the edge of the roof to jump onto another roof again. This time, someone pulled him back just as he was about to jump. Rick came face to face with a young woman.

"Who the hell are you?" Rick asked.

"I'm Michelle."

"Michelle? As in the Michelle that Ratner was supposed to meet?"

"Yes." Michelle said, "Come with me. I can help you."

"Why would you help me?" Rick asked.

"Okay, you want to do this the easy way or what?" Michelle sighed.

When Rick didn't answer, she hit him in the back of the head with her gun. Rick passed out. Michelle then rolled Rick up inside a carpet and dragged him down the stairs by the side of the building. She panted as she reached the bottom. Rick was heavy for a small woman like her. She managed to get Rick inside her big SUV, and drive to her boss. After driving for almost thirty minutes, she reached the mansion where her boss lived and stopped the car. She dragged Rick inside the house and into the living room. Her boss smirked as she arrived and he gave her a soft kiss. On the chair in front of Michelle and her boss, John was tied to a chair.

Rick woke up slowly and when he opened his eyes, he saw a badly beaten and tied up John, Michelle and a man he had never seen before.

"Welcome to my home Rick."

"Who are you?" Rick asked.

"My name is Jack Bernard; I'm from London and own this big mansion that you're in right now." Jack smirked, "I think you know Michelle and John."

"I don't agree." Rick said.

"Right, okay, let me correct myself. You _thought_ you knew what John was like, but it turned out he was more evil then you first thought. And Michelle, you have only met once. Since the cops ruined your first meeting." Jack said, "Well, actually, you shouldn't have met Michelle at all. Ratner was supposed to do it. John told me that Ratner was dead when he found me."

"Ratner was supposed to meet Michelle, yes." Rick sighed, "What does this have to do with me?"

"Nothing really. I have a job for you." Jack smirked evilly, "I want you to find out everything you can about the case."

"I can't do that. I'm wanted." Rick said, "You want me to get the file in Lt. Caine's office."

"Yes, if you don't, John will die."

"I don't care."

"Oh, but you do care Rick. I know you do." Jack chuckled, "John has 48 hours left to live."

"You give me 48 hours to get a file?" Rick asked.

"No, I'm giving you 48 hours, to get me that file I want, kill Lt. Caine and get rid of Ratner's body." Jack smirked.

"What?"

"Find the file, Kill…"

"I heard you!" Rick snapped, "I just… you want me to kill Lt. Caine?"

"Yes, why not? Ratner must have planned something. Why else would he have Caine's phone number implanted in his foot?" Jack asked, "I want you to make sure that this case becomes a cold case."

"By killing someone and hide a body?" Rick asked.

"Are you stupid?" Michelle asked, "Is it really so hard to understand?"

"Michelle." Jack warned, "Rick if you don't do this for me. John will die."

"Then go ahead and kill him. I could get arrested and tell the police about your plan." Rick said.

"You won't do that." Jack smirked, "Because I hold the key to your freedom."

"What key?"

"If you do this for me. I will give you seven million dollars and a new name." Jack smirked, "You will become an Irish Citizen. You can travel all around the world and live like any other human being. Just a little bit richer."

"You're lying!" Rick growled.

"Rick." Jack sighed and threw a gun to him, "This gun was used by John when he shot you and that lab tech. It can only be traced back to him because only his prints are on it."

Michelle threw a pair of gloves to Rick. Rick put them on and then picked up the gun.

"Do we have a deal?" Jack asked.

"Deal." Rick said and shook his hand.

Rick then left. He wasn't proud of what he was about to do. However, he wanted to be free. Maybe he could figure out a way to get what he wanted, without killing anyone. But he had to think fast. He only had 48 hours to do it.

**-I-**

**19:00**

"Cooper, please come out there." Eric said.

Cooper was hiding in the men's room. He had locked the door and refused to come out. Eric had tried to get him out for over twenty minutes. Cooper had been on his way home, when he had noticed how all the officers were laughing at him. He had screamed like a girl when he seen what he had been wearing and run back to the lab.

"This is so humiliating!" Cooper growled, "Frank went too far."

"Actually he didn't. I mean, Ryan and Horatio cut holes in his pants once and he had no idea. He also embarrassed himself in front of the entire MDPD." Eric chuckled.

"That was Ryan and H's fault! Not mine." Cooper whined.

Eric was about to say something, when Paul passed by him. White as a sheet. Jason was following him, smirking widely.

"Do I want to know?" Eric asked.

"Alexx and I just showed him our knife collection." Jason chuckled, "And now I'm taking him back to his office."

Eric shrugged. Jason was becoming crazy just like the rest of the team. Eric begged Cooper to come out for another ten minutes, before Frank finally showed up with his old clothes. Cooper opened the door quickly and grabbed the clothes. He came out five minutes later. Dressed in the clothes he had come to work with. He threw the tutu and all the other clothes at Frank.

"This was by far the worst prank ever!" Cooper growled and left.

Frank laughed and shook his head. Now it was time for Cooper to have his revenge. Frank wasn't scared though.

Natalia joined the boys and asked why Cooper looked like someone had killed his kitten and eaten all his cookies. Eric explained and Natalia shook her head at Frank.

"Anyway, I was in the basement you told me about. I found some hair, brown like Rick's." Natalia said, "But I couldn't find any DNA from it."

"Any shoeprints?" Eric asked.

"Plenty, but without Rick or John's shoes, we can't match it to them." Natalia sighed, "And the prints from Lisa's envelope doesn't match neither John nor Rick."

"It's getting pretty late, and we should all head home." Frank said.

Eric agreed and left his kit in his lab. On his way home, he hoped that Horatio had managed to get some sleep. As soon as he entered the door, he smiled. No lights were on and everything was quiet. He went to the bedroom, and frowned when he didn't see Horatio. He wasn't in the living room either, or on the back porch. He suddenly heard two dogs whining.

"Waldo? Rascal?" He asked and followed the whining.

It came from the bathroom, and Eric opened the door. He gasped as saw Horatio lying on the floor of the shower, naked and unconscious. Waldo and Rascal had tried waking him up for several hours, but Horatio didn't respond to anything.

"H?" Eric asked, and gently shook Horatio.

Horatio didn't respond. Eric quickly called an ambulance and then checked his pulse, it was faint. Horatio was cold, but his body didn't even shake.

"H, please wake up!" Eric begged.

_**TBC…**_

**AN: Please review!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Monday July 1st****. 01:30**

Eric was pacing in the waiting area of the ER. When he had found Horatio unconscious on the bathroom floor, he had called for an ambulance. Horatio hadn't woken up since then. Eric had been waiting for several hours to be told what was wrong with his husband. However, the doctors and nurses seemed to have vanished. With Eric in the waiting area, was his father Joseph, his sister Maya and Alexx.

"Eric, sit down please." Joseph said.

Eric shook his head. He couldn't possibly sit down when he, once again had, to be in the hospital and fear for his lover's life. Eric knew that Horatio had been sicker then everyone had first thought. Maybe Horatio himself didn't know how sick he was.

"Why aren't they telling us anything? Last time, he was here less then one hour." Eric growled.

"Eric, they may not know what is wrong." Alexx said.

However, as long as a doctor or a nurse didn't show up, it also meant that Horatio was still alive. Eric sighed and hit his fist against the wall. He hit again and again. Joseph pulled him into his embrace and told him to calm down.

"I can't calm down!" Eric snapped and pulled away from his father, "This is what? The third time that he is in the hospital for something serious. The third time in a little more then a year!"

"It's not his fault." Maya said.

"He never listens to me." Eric sighed, "I should have forced him to stay here and be examined more thoroughly."

"Eric, you had no way of knowing this was going to happen." Joseph said.

Just like the other times, Eric found a way to blame himself for what happened to the people he loved. He was just like Horatio in that way. Though the blame always got worse when Horatio was the one sick or injured.

"Anyone want some coffee?" Alexx asked.

She could see that everyone in the room were tired. Joseph and Maya nodded, but Eric shook his head. While Alexx went for some coffee, Maya tried to make Eric understand that nothing was his fault. But Eric refused to listen. He just snapped at his sister and left to sit outside in the hallway. Alone.

"Give him a few minutes." Joseph said and stopped Maya from following her brother, "He needs to calm down."

"He also needs to listen." Maya sighed, "Did H teach him to blame himself for things that are not his fault?"

"No, Eric has always been that way. But Horatio even blames himself for things he couldn't possibly have stopped from happening. He carries the weight of the world on his shoulders. Eric blames himself when things go wrong in the family." Joseph said, "When Speed died, he always asked himself why he didn't check if Speed cleaned his gun, or if it was functioning like it should."

"And so did H." Alexx said as she came back, "I think we all thought of the same thing."

"But it's hard to know if a gun is malfunctioning." Joseph said, "Eric and Horatio needs to see that. Speed's death is not their fault."

"No it's not." Alexx nodded in agreement, "Eric and Horatio will be fine though."

**-I-**

**01:50**

Rick had no time to waste. He quickly ran behind the lab, trying to find a way in. If he had to, he would break window and climb in. However, he hoped it wouldn't lead to that. The night shift CSI team was working, and two of their hummers were still in the parking lot. Rick knew that he wouldn't be able to enter the lab without a disguise. And even then it would be hard. Since John's little adventure in the lab, the security was tighter then usual. Rick had to find a fake ID. But once he was in the lab, he would face the problem of getting out. Rick smiled as he found his way in. By wearing a cleaning crew's outfit, he could enter the lab. Rick saw a cleaning guy picking garbage at the parking lot. The cleaners often did, even though they didn't have to. Rick sneaked behind some cars, making sure that the two officers by the entrance didn't see him. Quickly he sneaked up behind the cleaning guy and hit him in the head with the gun. He grabbed his body before he hit the ground, and then gently placed him between two cars. He changed clothes with the man and took the man's cleaning cart. As he approached the entrance, the two officers stood up and looked sternly at him. Rick was hiding his face with the cleaning guy's cap. He hoped that the officers wouldn't request to see an ID. Because Rick wasn't sure if he could pretend to be Jerry Winters, age 51.

"ID please." One of the officers said.

Rick pointed at the ID badge on his chest. The officers took a good look at the picture and then at Rick's face. Well, the part of Rick's face they could see.

"You have scar on your chin on the picture, but not in real life." One of the officers said.

"I wear a special make up to make it seem invisible." Rick said, he hoped that the officers didn't notice how nervous he was.

"Oh yeah! I heard about that on TV. You know this program that offers you to buy a special vacuum cleaner and so on." The other officer said with an Australian accent.

"Really? What kind of stuff, except make up?" The first officer asked.

Rick sighed. He really didn't have time talking to the officers about things to buy from TV. He had a mission! Rick sighed heavily.

"Look, officers. I have to work." Rick said.

"Wait a minute." The first officer said.

"You can buy things for the kitchen, the bathroom. Everything basically." The other officer said.

Rick sighed and decided to end the conversation.

"It's just fake." He snapped, "It's not as good as it appears on TV."

The officers looked at him and chuckled, "That's true." The first officer said, "You should never believe what you see on TV."

"But you bought make-up from TV." The other officer said and nodded at Rick, "How come you buy stuff from it and then say it's fake?"

"Well, because. This shit that I bought… it, itches." Rick sighed.

"Itches? Oh, well that's bad." The first officer sighed.

Rick nodded and was about to push past them, when they finally moved out of his way. He thanked them and hurried towards the elevator. Once inside the elevator he made sure to hide his face from the surveillance camera. The elevator stopped at the lab and Rick peeked outside. He saw three CSI's from the night shift and a new receptionist. Luckily, for Rick, none of them paid much attention to him and he managed to slip past them without being noticed. He reached Horatio's office, and carefully opened the door.

"Hey you!" A female voice said from behind him, "You don't have to clean that office. The cleaning lady does that at 5am."

Rick turned around and stood face to face with a young brunette woman.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I was told to clean it." Rick said.

"By who? Lt. Caine maybe?" The CSI said suspiciously.

Rick nodded. What Rick didn't know was that Horatio was in the hospital.

"Really? I find that hard to believe, since he has been in the hospital since around eight last evening."

"Well, he told me a few days ago." Rick said.

"Why would he? Look, I do not believe you. So just piss off okay?" The CSI snapped.

Rick nodded and walked away. He cursed silently and pretended to clean some of the labs. He had to get into the office, and he would succeed sooner or later. The CSI kept her eyes on him for almost thirty minutes. Rick noticed how she sneaked around. He sighed and glared at her. He wasn't going near the office while she was around.

"You don't look like Jerry." The CSI finally said as she came out of her little hiding spot behind a corner.

"I'm his son okay." Rick lied "Jerry didn't feel good and went home."

"I saw him about an hour ago."

"I told you. He went home." Rick sighed.

"Jerry doesn't have kids."

"Yes he does. But we don't talk much." Rick said, "That's why I call him Jerry and not Dad."

The CSI sighed and apologized for her sneaky behavior. Rick nodded and looked at her ID. He immediately recognized the name. The CSI had once asked to transfer to the day shift and work for Horatio. However, Horatio had interviewed several people during the same time, and ended up hiring Eric Delko.

"You once wanted to work for the day shift." Rick smiled, hoping to get on the woman's good side.

"Yes I did." She smiled, "I'm Rebecca Summer."

"Rick Stet… Stiller." Rick said.

Rebecca chuckled and shook his hand. Rick sighed in relief as Rebecca got a phone call. She then left quickly.

"Thank God that people still commit crimes in this city." Rick muttered and watched Rebecca leave, "Perfect timing."

Rick sneaked towards the office again and picked the lock. He smiled as he managed to get the door opened and sneaked inside. He searched through all the files and found the right one. As he was about to leave, he noticed two detectives and a young male CSI outside. Talking about a recent homicide. Rick was glad that he had closed the door behind him so that the three men didn't notice him. Rick was afraid to look, so instead he listened and got angry when it didn't appear as if the three men were about to leave. In fact one of them sat down outside, to wait for the other two as they walked away to find a name. Rick cursed and almost ripped the file in two pieces.

"This is not what I need right now." He sighed and sat down behind the door.

All he could to was to wait.

**-I-**

**03:00**

Eric finally got the chance to see his lover. A nurse came to take him to Horatio's room in the ICU. Inside the room, Horatio's doctor was waiting. His name was Bryce Colt. He looked troubled as Eric entered the room. Horatio was lying on a bed, with a nasal cannula. The were several machines in the room, monitoring him. Eric sat down beside the bed and squeezed Horatio's hand. Bryce introduced himself to Eric and Eric asked him what was wrong.

"Well, we found two large tumors in his brain." Bryce said.

"Excuse me, what?" Eric asked.

"Lt. Caine has to large brain tumors." Bryce said, "One of which is more dangerous then the other."

"Oh my god." Eric sighed, "But you can take them away, right?"

"Yes I can. However, it is not a simple procedure. One of the tumors is easily removed. It's a bit smaller then the other and is not a risk to the brain, at its current size. However, if we wait and it keeps growing… it will cause major problems."

"And the other?"

"The other is what I'm worried about." Bryce sighed, "If we remove it, we risk making Lt. Caine paralyzed on the right side of the face."

"But if you don't remove, he will die." Eric said, feeling tears running down his cheeks.

"Yes, I'm afraid so." Bryce said, "Lt. Caine is unconscious. Not in a coma. Just unconscious."

"What are the signs of a brain tumor?" Eric asked.

"Well, chills, unable to sleep, loss of appetite, among other things." Bryce said, "Just like the symptoms you told the nurse he has had during the last few weeks."

"Is it common to have two brain tumors at once?" Eric asked, though he was sure he already knew the answer.

"No, I've never had a patient with two tumors before."

"When will you take him to surgery?" Eric asked.

"Well, I could do the first surgery in two days." Bryce said, "And as his next of kin. The choice is yours, since he's not awake."

"The first surgery?"

"Yes, I can't take both tumors at the same time. It's too risky for him." Bryce said, "I will take the biggest tumor first. And then the second one."

"Okay. Do it. And please be careful." Eric said.

"I will do my best to make sure that you get to see his smile." Bryce smiled and left the room.

Eric sobbed and kissed Horatio softly on the lips. He knew that Horatio would have wanted to go into surgery. But if Horatio would or become paralyzed on the right side of his face. Eric would never forgive himself. Eric sat with Horatio for ten minutes, before he went outside in the hallway. Joseph, Maya and Alexx hugged him. Bryce had told them the same thing he had told Eric.

"He will be fine, honey." Alexx said softly.

"If something goes wrong…"

"Nothing will go wrong." Joseph said, "And when Horatio wakes up, you can take him home and make him sleep through all those hours of sleep that he has missed."

Eric smiled slightly and nodded. Then he sent everybody home. There was nothing they could do now anyway.

**-I-**

**07:30**

"Come on Frank. It's your best friend in the hospital." Natalia growled as she walked through the parking lot to the hospital. Frank was trying to catch up with her. But Natalia was a fast walker. As they reached the elevator, Frank panted and sighed.

"Have you called Eric and told him we're coming?" Frank asked.

"Yeah. Fifteen minutes ago." Natalia said, "I can't believe this is happening. H doesn't need this. And neither does Eric. They've bee through so much already."

"Don't worry Natalia. Horatio will be fine. His love for Eric is too strong for him not to fight." Frank smiled.

As they got out of the elevator, they walked towards Horatio's room. Natalia took a deep breath and knocked on the door. When nobody answered, she opened it and peeked inside. Eric was asleep in the chair, still holding Horatio's hand. She smiled and resisted the urge to hug Eric hard. She didn't want to wake him. Frank paled as he saw Horatio in the bed. He hated seeing his best friend sick. He gently squeezed Horatio's other hand.

"You make sure to pull through this." Frank whispered in his ear.

Natalia rubbed Frank's back softly. She knew that even though Frank and Horatio rarely said it, they were not only best friends. They were brothers. Natalia and Frank stayed in the room for twenty minutes, before leaving. Eric was still asleep when they left. They drove to the lab in silence. As they reached the lab, they were met by worried lab techs. Natalia explained everything to them in the break room."Everything will be fine." Natalia finished.

The lab techs calmed down some and went back to work. Natalia then turned to Frank.

"Frank. H is in the hospital, Eric is with him. Calleigh is on maternity leave, and Ryan has one week paternity leave. Amber is here though, but… Does that mean that I am in charge?"

"Yes, it does." Frank nodded.

"Sorry. I'm late." Ryan sighed as he walked into the break room. But he wasn't alone. He had Waldo and Rascal with him. He had called Eric and asked if he could take the dogs for a while, knowing that Eric would spend a lot of time in the hospital."What are you doing here?" Natalia asked, "What about Cal and Riley?"

"Cal sent me here. Besides, I cannot sit at home, when we have a murder to solve, two escaped convicts and boss in the hospital. We are short of numbers. But we can do this." Ryan said.

"Well, you're the boss." Natalia smiled and then bent down to say hi to the dogs.

"They're staying with me and Cal, until Eric and H can go home again." Ryan said.

"And how will your dog, Kendra, react to that?" Frank asked.

"Oh she will be happy to have someone to play with." Ryan smiled, "Okay, um… did you guys hear that?"

"Hear what?" Amber asked

There was a noise of something heavy being pushed over the floor. Natalia looked confused at Frank. Frank shrugged and walked towards the noise. The others followed him. Ryan left the dogs in the break room. As they reached Horatio's office, they aimed their guns in front of them. There was a noise again and this time some muttering. Frank quickly opened the door and fell to the floor as someone else fell over him.

"Hands above your head!" Ryan growled and pointed his gun at the cleaning guy. The cleaning guy got off Frank and stood up, hiding his face. Frank growled and stood up.

"Hands above your head." Frank said.

Natalia reached out and removed the cap from the guy's head.

"Rick?!" The all exclaimed at the same time.

Rick blushed and sat down on the floor. Apparently, he had stood up sometime during the night and then fallen asleep. Then he had started sleep walking, moving furniture around as he bumped into them.

"You have got to be kidding me." Frank sighed, "Rick Stetler, escaped convict with a bullet in the shoulder."

"It John's fault." Rick sighed.

"We know. We saw the tape with you, him and Malcolm." Ryan said and handcuffed Rick, "You better start talking."

Rick sighed as he was lead towards the interrogation rooms at the PD. Frank followed him and Ryan. Grinning like a fool. Natalia and Amber shrugged and looked inside the office. They found the file that Rick had been looking for on the floor. After they cleaned up the little mess that Rick had caused, they also looked at the surveillance cameras to see how Rick managed to, once again, sneak into the lab.

**_----_**

Rick was blushing. He could see the detectives watching him through the glass walls as he sat alone in one of the interrogation rooms. They knew who he was and he knew them. The detectives thought it was very funny that Rick had been caught. Especially since he was, an ex- IAB Srgt. Frank and Ryan enjoyed watching him blush, as they stood behind the two-way mirror. Natalia had called Ryan and told him what they had found.

"I bet you 30 dollars that he will tell us everything he has done since he escaped, right away." Ryan smirked.

"I don't think so. But if I win, you have to wear a chicken suit the rest of the day." Frank smirked.

"Hey, that's better then money! Okay, whoever looses, has to wear a chicken suit." Ryan smiled, "Now let's talk to Ricky."

As they entered the room, Rick asked them to please tell all the other detectives to stop watching through the glass. Frank and Ryan just smirked and shook their heads.

"If you had stayed in jail, you wouldn't be in this embarrassing situation right now." Frank said, "We know how you got inside the lab. You knocked Jerry Winters down, stole his clothes and pretended to be him. Then you managed to break inside Horatio's office, and then you stayed there."

"Jerry Winters got a concussion." Ryan said, "And I think I know why you never left the office. The detective outside the room, sat there for almost two hours. You got tired and fell asleep."

"Correct." Rick said, "Look, I'm not going to lie. Ratner told me about this girl called Michelle that he was going to meet. He had written down the longitude and the latitude of the meeting place, instead of the name of the location. Don't ask me why. He even showed me how to escape."

"Really?" Ryan asked.

"Yes, he found a hole behind the towel shelf in the showers. Made it bigger by digging a little bit and got out. I took the same way out with John. I was going to meet Michelle, after I found out that Ratner was dead. Ratner was going to get money, and as an escaped convict, I need money. Therefore, I thought I would take them instead of him. But then you guys turned up and I never met Michelle that night."

"But you did later on?" Ryan asked.

"Yes." Rick sighed. He knew that he was going back to jail. And if he was, he was going to make sure to bring Michelle, Jack and John with him. And he had nothing to loose.

"Continue please." Frank said.

"Well, John and I were hiding in a basement. Then he left and I stayed. I came back to Miami and saw him sneak into the morgue. I caught him in his car as he was about to leave, I slipped up and told him about the large case file in Horatio's office. When I refused to help him get it, he shot me."

"And then forced you to take him there anyway?" Ryan asked.

"Yes, but that lab tech was apparently in his way. So he shot him." Rick sighed and shook his head, "I thought he as a junkie that would follow me like a dog. Instead he left me with an injured shoulder and met his boss."

"His boss?" Frank asked.

"Jack Bernard. He is the one in charge. He is the one who made John come here and steal Dr. Wood's autopsy report."

"I've never heard of Jack Bernard." Frank said.

"He told me I had 48 hours to take Horatio's case file, kill him and hide Ratner's body." Rick said, "I wasn't going to kill Horatio. I… I was going to figure out a way to fool Jack."

"What did he promise you in return?" Ryan asked.

"Money, a new identity and freedom." Rick said, "In the end, all I want is freedom."

There was a knock on the door and a familiar face waved for Frank and Ryan to come out. They sighed and left Rick alone again. FBI Agent Monroe was waiting for them; he was the one who had told the team about Rick's trafficking business with Rocco Santana. He was basically the one who had sent Rick to jail.

**FLASHBACK**

_**Horatio and Calleigh turned around and saw a man with an FBI badge.**_

_**"I'm Agent Monroe." He said, "And Mike Lewis is a guy planted here by us."**_

_**"Don't you guys ever give up?" Calleigh asked, "What is it with you trying to bring us down?"**_

_**"We're not after you." Monroe said, "We're after Rick Stetler."**_

_**"Stetler?!" Calleigh exclaimed, "Why?"**_

_**"We believe that he's working with a man named Rocco Santana." Monroe said, "Santana is a former drug dealer who just switched to women and guns."**_

_**-I-**_

"_**Alright, it seems as if Rick Stetler has been dealing with trafficking of women and guns." Horatio said, "The FBI started investigating him about a year ago, just a few weeks before he switched departments."**_

"_**And Mike Lewis?" Ryan asked.**_

"_**Mike Lewis is a criminal, placed here in the lab to nail Rick. What Mr. Lewis didn't tell the FBI was that Rick no longer worked at MDPD; instead, he listened to information about our cases and told a friend of his to copy our robber. A friend we haven't found yet." Horatio sighed, "So now we not only have to find Joseph, we have to find Rocco Santana and Rick Stetler, who seems to have disappeared."**_

"_**This is BS." Frank growled, "Why do we have to take care of Santana?"**_

"_**Because the FBI needs our help, and there is a possibility that our robber is connected to Santana too." Horatio said.**_

"_**How?" Calleigh asked.**_

"_**Santana used to deal with drugs, that was almost a year ago. But his drugs are out on the streets and it is the only thing that can put Santana in jail."**_

"_**Why?" Frank asked.**_

"_**Because Santana never does the dirty work, he sends other people to do it. And they refuse to talk, so the FBI has no way to convict Santana." Horatio said, "But the unique thing with Santana's drugs is that it's red, he has added some color to the drugs, and also once you get addicted you will need more and more, faster and faster."**_

"_**I still don't understand how that involves our robber." Ryan said.**_

"_**The FBI recognized the guy on the phantom picture of the robber as one of their suspects in Santana's business. They believe that this guy is Santana's right hand, or was. Until he started getting too addicted to drugs." Horatio said.**_

"_**And nobody wants to work with someone who constantly needs drugs." Frank said.**_

_**Horatio nodded.**_

"_**Exactly. Our robber is suspected of stealing Santana's drugs and Santana need to find the drugs to wipe out the only things that can convict him, while the FBI needs the drugs to convict Santana." Horatio said.**_

"_**So, why rob a bank and shoot people?" Calleigh asked.**_

"_**He was probably high during the robberies." Frank said.**_

"_**Yes, and he is hiding somewhere. Santana's men are everywhere looking for this guy. He cannot get a job, so he has to rob banks. And then he kills two people every time, most likely because he's high." Horatio said.**_

"_**So if we find the drugs, we find the robber and we help FBI nail Santana and Rick." Ryan said, "Just how do they know that Stetler is involved?"**_

"_**They have photos of him transporting women from different places and they've seen Santana pay him money." Horatio said, "Bringing down Santana isn't going to be easy."**_

"_**We'll be ready for anything." Calleigh said.**_

**END OF FLASBACK**

"Agent Monroe." Frank sighed, "Came here to take over the case?"

"No, just help. Rick is my responsibility. You should have called me when he escaped; instead I had to watch it on the news." Monroe said.

"Well, we thought your business with him was finished. You got him in jail for trafficking of drugs and women."

"Well, it doesn't mean I don't keep an eye on him from time to time." Monroe sighed, "Look, Jack Bernard is wanted by the FBI."

"For what?" Frank asked.

"Murder." Monroe said, "We know it's him, but we don't have enough evidence to charge him, so therefore we have to catch him during in the middle of a crime."

"I think I know where you're going with this. You want to set a trap?" Ryan asked.

"Yes, with Rick's help." Monroe said, "Of course, I might have to offer him a deal first."

"Like reducing his sentence down to half the time?" Frank asked

"Yes, exactly." Monroe said, "Look, I don't like it. But Jack Bernard is a more dangerous criminal than Rick Stetler."

"Go ahead." Ryan said and Frank nodded in agreement.

Monroe thanked them and started his own interrogation with Rick. Frank and Ryan trusted Monroe and knew that he was right. Jack Bernard had to be caught. And if they caught Jack, then maybe the would solve Ratner's murder as well.

"Well, it seems as if we may finally close the case." Frank sighed, "I hope so."

"Me too." Ryan smirked, "Somebody lost a bet."

"No, you can't make me do it. Not in front of the FBI guy!" Frank exclaimed.

"Frank, for the rest of the day you have to wear a chicken suit. Now, I know that Cooper bought one for you wear. So why don't you go see him."

"You planned this with him." Frank growled.

"It's payback for what you did to him. You dressed him up in funny clothes, not it's your turn." Ryan laughed and watched as Frank sighed and walked towards the lab.

**-I-**

**14:15**

Cooper working on his computer. He had been assigned to make a photo of a Horatio, with a beaten and bloody face, and then a picture of Ratner's body in a grave. That way, Rick would have photos to prove that he had completed his mission. Rick would lead the FBI back to Jack Bernard, record what was being said and make sure that Jack was about to commit a crime. Then the team and agent Monroe would finish it once and for all. Rick was currently in the hospital because of his shoulder injury. But would be back soon.

"Did he dress up in the suit?" Ryan asked from the doorway.

"Yes, Frank now looks like something out of an animated movie." Cooper chuckled.

Ryan had been looking for Frank for over an hour. However, the Texan had managed to hide. This wasn't so hard to understand, considering his new outfit.

"Take pictures though. We still have to make him that movie about his life. With video clips and photos." Cooper said.

"You haven't finished with it yet?"

"Hey, I've had other things to do." Cooper said, "Anyway, look at this picture of H."

Ryan sighed and walked away from the doorway, he saw a picture of Horatio, with a beaten face, a bullet hole in the forehead and blood all over his face. Under all that horrible stuff, there was a smiling Lt.

"You really did the worst you could huh?" Ryan asked, "He looks like he's been run over by a truck. A big truck."

"No, because then his face would be flat." Cooper said, "Rick is supposed to have killed him remember."

"With the gun yes. Not beat him and then shoot him."

"Bernard never said that. Rick said he was told to just kill H. You can kill someone in many ways." Cooper said.

Ryan sighed and gave up. Cooper was right.

"There he is!" Cooper laughed and pointed at Frank, as he ran through the lab in a chicken suit.

Ryan quickly snapped a photo of him.

"Perfect." Ryan smirked.

Once Cooper was finished with the pictures for Rick. Rick was wired and given a car. The police and SWAT followed from a safe distance. Once they reached the big mansion, SWAT and all the others waited on the street, and then went on foot to the main building, that Rick had parked outside of. Amber and Natalia were sitting in a big van, listening to what Rick was recording. SWAT placed themselves at every exit and on the roof. They cut off the wire to the alarm system on the outside of the house. That's when the officers, Frank, (who wasn't wearing the chicken suit for this moment), Ryan and Monroe entered the big house, making sure to hide behind walls.

"You came here fast, Rick." Jack smirked, "To bad John is already dead."

Rick glanced down at the floor in the living room and saw John's dead body. He was severely beaten and shot.

"You have me 48 hours!" Rick growled, "It's not even been 24."

"Well, Michelle got bored and decided to entertain herself with John." Jack smirked, "Have you really completed your mission?"

"Yes." Rick sighed and gave Jack two pictures.

"Wow, you really made sure that the Lt. died." Jack smirked, "And you buried Ratner. Good, good."

"Now, it's your turn to give me what I want." Rick said.

"First give me the gun." Jack said.

Rick paled. He had given the gun to the police. And they hadn't given it back. Nobody had thought that Jack would want the gun back.

"I don't have." Rick said.

"Where is it?" Michelle asked.

"I buried it under Ratner's body." Rick sighed, "So that it wouldn't be found."

"Clever man." Jack chuckled, "Well, okay. In that suitcase by the door, there is seven million dollars, a new passport and a driver's license."

Rick went to grab the suitcase, but when he heard a gun being loaded, he stopped and turned around. Jack was smirking at him as he aimed a gun at him.

"You promised me." Rick said.

"I lied. I don't need you anymore, and I don't need to know that you are running around on the streets. You could call the police." Jack said, "So, any last words?"

"Wait!" Michelle said.

She walked towards Rick and ripped his shirt open. She ripped the wire away and showed it to Jack.

"Clever man." Jack sighed, "Bye Rick."

Out in the van. Natalia and Amber cursed as Michelle ripped the wire away. They couldn't hear what was going on anymore. Just as Natalia was about to tell the cops to move in and stop Jack before Rick died, she heard a loud bang of a gun being fired.

_**TBC….**_

**AN: Please review!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Monday 1st**** July. 16:30**

Jack Bernard was dead. Shot to death by Agent Monroe before Jack had the chance to kill Rick. Michelle was arrested. John was in the morgue with Jack. Rick had been sent back to jail. Michelle was sitting in an interrogation room. Crying. She had been in love with Jack and now her lover was dead. She glared at Monroe and Frank as they entered the room. Frank was smirking widely.

"What's so funny?" Michelle asked, "Your friend here killed Jack! You shot him!"

"He deserves to die." Monroe said, "He killed five people within a year. Five innocent people."

"They were not innocent. They were assassins!" Michelle growled.

"No, they were innocent people." Monroe said and placed five pictures in front of Michelle.

It was pictures of the three men and two women that Jack had killed a year ago. But he hadn't done it alone. Michelle had been with him the whole time.

"The people you killed were not the assassins that you and Jack were looking for." Monroe said, "Victim number one, his name was Joshua Barker. Joshua Barker was born as Jackie Barker. He had a sex-change and changed his name to Joshua. The assassin's name was Joshua Barken. One little letter is what made you and Jack kill the wrong man." Monroe placed another picture above the picture of Barker. This picture was of the assassin. Michelle gasped and looked at the two pictures.

"Victim number two and three. A married couple. Allan James and Catherine James." Frank said, "You were looking for Allan's twin brother Adrian."

Monroe placed a picture of Adrian above the picture of Allan. They locked almost identical, but Adrian had a scar above his left eye.

"You failed to notice that Allan didn't have a scar like Adrian. And the wife, well I guess she just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time." Monroe said.

"Victim number four Yvette Anderson." Frank sighed, "Mother of three, divorced. Worked as clerk at a gas station."

"From behind she looked just like the woman you were really looking for. Amanda Garner." Monroe said and showed Michelle a picture of Amanda.

"No, this can't be." Michelle said, "We made sure that we hade the right people."

"Not good enough. You assumed that you had the right person. You and Jack shot these people without hesitation." Monroe said, "Victim number five, Oliver Troy."

"Age 18, just graduated from high school." Frank sighed, "The assassin, Phoenix Hawk, surgically changed his appearance. And happened to look a lot like Oliver."

"And now the latest victim, John Grey." Monroe said, "I know you killed him so that he couldn't turn on you and Jack. But was it really necessary?"

"Screw John." Michelle said, "These people… we… no, it can't be true."

"It is true Michelle. You killed them. They had nothing to do with Jack's business. In fact I don't even know what these five assassins had to do with Jack." Monroe said, "Three of these assassins are in jail, the other two are dead."

"But Jack… he said… he was so sure that we got the right people." Michelle said, tears falling from her eyes.

She had trusted Jack. Jack had been wrong. Instead of spending her life to protect Jack, a man who had killed the people who had betrayed him. She had protected and loved a man who had killed the wrong people. However, she was also to blame. She had killed them with him. She had taken five innocent lives!

Monroe and Frank watched as Michelle cried. She realized what she had done. Monroe didn't feel sorry for her. Not at all. Frank sighed. He only felt sorry for the five innocent victims and their families. Monroe had been given the tough assignment of calling the families and tell them that the killers had been caught. Of course, the families had been happy to hear that, but once they were told of the reason behind the murders. They had cried. Monroe had just figured out himself what Jack and Michelle had done.

"Jack wanted to offer criminals freedom. He had a lot of money, and as he got older, he realized that the money had been used to nothing. Therefore, he started contacting criminals that were in the need of a new name and some money. In exchange for lifetime service for Jack, he gave them a new name and money. He made sure that they disappeared." Michelle sighed, "We've helped several assassins and gang leaders to simply disappear."

"Do you know their real names?" Frank asked.

"No, but Jack kept all their names, both old and new, in a book." Michelle said, "It's in his closet. Hidden between two shirts."

"What went wrong with the five assassins you were chasing?" Monroe asked.

"They didn't do as they had promised. They had promised to serve Jack. If he asked them to do something, they had to. Otherwise Jack would go to the police."

"But when he realized he had been tricked, he knew that if he went to the police, he would be arrested himself." Frank said.

"Yes." Michelle sighed, "So he wanted to make sure that the assassins never told the police about us, in case they got caught. We thought we had succeeded."

"And Ratner?" Frank asked.

"Ratner helped Jack with his work. He made sure that no lawyers or cops investigated Jack." Michelle said, "Then Ratner went to jail. He called Jack and told him he had found a way out of jail."

"Jack knew that Ratner could blackmail him?" Monroe asked.

"Of course. Ratner could easily tell the cops about Jack. So Jack decided to remove yet another threat." Michelle said, "I was going to shoot Ratner, with the same gun that John used to shoot the lab tech."

"But instead you beat him to death." Frank said.

"I didn't kill Ratner. I had no idea he was dead until John told us." Michelle said, "That's when he told us that Rick had tried to meet me instead, pretending to be Ratner. I guess he should be lucky that you interrupted that meeting. Otherwise he would be dead."

"And how come you're telling us this?" Monroe asked.

"They only thing I had to loose I have already lost. Jack." Michelle sighed, "I've got nothing left."

Frank and Monroe stepped outside for a while to talk in private.

"I want that book." Monroe said, "I can arrest so many guys with that book."

"It's yours. I don't think you need our help to arrest them. I think we can let FBI handle that." Frank smiled, "But I still have a problem though."

"If Michelle didn't kill Ratner. Who did?" Monroe asked.

"Exactly." Frank sighed, "Okay, Michelle is yours and the book is yours. See ya around."

Monroe shook hands with Frank and watched the big Texan leave. He then sighed and went back to talk to Michelle. Monroe had spent a long time chasing Jack, and a long time chasing several criminals that he was sure that Jack had helped. Now he would finally be able to close several cases and give peace to the families.

**-I-**

**17:30**

Horatio opened his eyes slowly. He felt exhausted and hungry. He sighed as he realized that he was in the hospital. He hated being in hospitals. He looked down at Eric. Eric was sleeping with his head by Horatio's right hand. Horatio smiled. He had no idea if the doctors had figured out why he had been feeling bad the last two weeks. But he knew that he wouldn't be leaving the hospital anytime soon. Eric woke up as he felt Horatio shift in the bed. He lifted his head up and smiled widely as he saw that Horatio was awake. Eric bent forward and kissed his lover hard.

"How are you feeling H?" He asked, "Any pain? Thirsty? Hungry?"

"I'm hungry." Horatio yawned, "What's wrong Eric?"

Eric sighed and sat down. Every time he thought about the two tumors that Horatio had, he cried. He was so afraid to loose him. Horatio squeezed Eric's hand as he saw his tears.

"You have two brain tumors Horatio." Eric sobbed, "And one of them is big and will kill you if the doctors don't remove it soon."

"Tumors?" Horatio asked in disbelief.

"Yeah. The other tumor is small." Eric said, "You will go into surgery in two days. I told Bryce to go ahead and take the tumor away. I don't want you to die."

"I don't want to die either." Horatio smiled, "Is the um… is it very dangerous?"

Horatio saw his answer in Eric's eyes right away. Eric nodded. Horatio shook his head.

"I can't believe it." He muttered.

Eric took it the wrong way. He was too tired, stressed and shocked to think clearly. He let go of Horatio's hand and glared at him.

"What? You'd rather die?!" Eric growled, "I told Bryce to remove the tumors, because I want you to live. But you want to die is that it?"

"Eric, I didn't…"

"You hate being a patient so much that you'd just rather die!" Eric snapped and stood up, "Horatio, do you ever think of anyone except yourself."

Eric knew that his words hurt. Because Horatio always did the opposite of what Eric had just said. He always put everyone else first. Horatio opened his mouth to say something.

"Don't even try to convince me otherwise Horatio!" Eric snapped, "The surgery is very dangerous. But at least then, you have chance of living for many more years. Without it you will die!"

Eric slammed the door shut as he left the room. Horatio blinked and shook his head. He couldn't believe that Eric thought that of him. They had been together so long now. Eric should know better. Maya was walking through the hallway towards Horatio's room when she saw Eric slam the door and walk angrily past her.

"Eric?" She asked.

"Piss off!" Eric snapped and walked towards the elevator.

Maya knew that her brother needed some time to calm down. She walked towards Horatio's room and knocked softly on the door. When she peeked inside, she saw a very sad Horatio sitting on the edge of the bed.

"Get back in bed H." She said and she helped him back in bed.

"I have to go after Eric." Horatio said.

Maya could see that he was fighting not to cry. Eric must have said something to hurt him, and Horatio must have said something to piss off Eric. She sighed and sat down next to Horatio.

"He thinks I don't want surgery." Horatio said.

As Horatio told her what had happened and what had been said, Maya realized that the exhaustion and shock had finally gotten to Eric. He needed to rest and calm down. Maya also saw that Horatio was hurt and believed that Eric thought he saw selfish.

"H, he is exhausted and in still in shock. He's so afraid to loose you." Maya said, "He didn't mean what he said."

"I'm not selfish." Horatio said, "I've waited my whole life to be loved by someone like him, and to love him. I'm not about to throw it away because I hate hospitals."

"I know that. And Eric knows it too." Maya said, "He just misunderstood it, when you said you couldn't believe it."

"I meant that I can't believe this is happening." Horatio said.

"I know." Maya said, she knew that Horatio felt he had to explain himself to keep her from yelling at him too.

She also realized that maybe snapping and yelling at Horatio actually hurt him more then helped him. She knew that Alexx and Frank were stern with him sometimes and even got angry when he didn't listen. And even though Maya had to agree that sometimes, Horatio needed a tongue-lashing, that maybe sometimes it was better to just talk with him. Calmly. Especially since she knew that Horatio came from an abusive childhood. He was used at being yelled at and even beaten. And he didn't like it.

"Horatio, please don't push me away." Maya said, "Or Eric. He needs to calm down. I will talk to him."

"He's so angry." Horatio said quietly.

Maya was shocked. She had never seen Horatio so sad. She hugged him tightly. Horatio had done nothing wrong.

"Horatio, I will talk to Eric. While you rest." Maya said, "Do you need anything?"

Horatio shook his head. He wasn't hungry anymore. Maya waited for him to fall asleep before she left and went to find her brother. She tried to call him, but Eric didn't pick up.

**-I-**

**18:30**

Ryan was practically dragged by Waldo and Rascal as they chased Kendra. The three dogs had been introduced to each other out on the beach not far away from Ryan and Calleigh's apartment. Calleigh laughed as she sat on a bench. Riley was asleep in the carrier.

"Waldo! Stop!" Ryan yelled.

Calleigh shook her head. Ryan didn't seem to figure out that if he simply let go of the leash, he wouldn't be dragged around anymore. Waldo and Rascal then decided to run away from each other, leaving Ryan pulled between the two dogs.

"Let go of the leash!" Calleigh laughed.

Ryan let go and sighed as he sunk down on the beach. He was tired. After a while, he stood up and walked over to his wife.

"We got a visitor." Ryan smirked and pointed behind Calleigh.

Calleigh laughed as she saw Frank and Cooper walk towards them. Cooper was holding a camera and Frank was in a chicken suit. Since Frank hadn't worn the chicken suit the entire day, he had now been forced to dance and sing in front of Calleigh, wearing the suit. Frank sighed and stood in front of Calleigh. He started spinning around and jumping up and down, while singing one of Calleigh's favorite song, _All you need is love _by the Beatles. Calleigh laughed along with Ryan and Cooper. Cooper was videotaping. It was the last thing he needed for the video for Frank. A late birthday gift from the team.

"Happy now?" Frank asked Ryan.

"Very." Ryan chuckled.

"Thank you for that wonderful dance, Frank." Calleigh chuckled gave him a hug. Frank smiled and hugged her back.

Then he quickly took off the chicken suit and handed it back to Cooper. Cooper smiled and went back to the lab. He really needed to finish the gift. Frank picked Riley up as she woke up. Riley looked at him with big eyes and her mouth open.

"I think your bald head is freaking her out." Ryan teased.

"Just wait a few years and you will start loosing hair too." Frank said and smiled down at Riley.

As he smiled, Riley started crying. Frank chuckled and handed her over to Calleigh. Riley calmed down right away.

"You're scaring my daughter." Ryan said.

"Very funny." Frank said and sat down next to Ryan. They watched as the dogs played with each other. However, the peace didn't last for long.

"No!" Ryan yelled and ran towards the dogs.

Kendra had decided that it was more fun to play in the water. Waldo and Rascal had agreed. The three dogs were now in the water, getting wet from the nose to tail. Ryan tried to chase them away, but the dogs just thought he had joined the game instead. Waldo decided that Ryan needed to get wet as well and ran straight towards his legs. Ryan yelped and fell down in the water. He stood up and growled at the dogs. Frank and Calleigh were laughing so hard that tears were rolling down their cheeks. Even Riley smiled a little. Ryan muttered incoherent words as he walked back to Frank and Calleigh.

"Thank you. I haven't laughed that much in a long time." Frank chuckled and wiped the tears away.

Ryan sat down on the bench and hugged Calleigh. Calleigh shrieked and glared playfully at Ryan.

"That's for laughing at me." Ryan smirked.

"What about Frank then?" Calleigh asked.

"I'll get him later." Ryan smirked evilly.

Frank smiled. He was about to say something but was interrupted as his phone rang. The ID on the display read Maya. Frank frowned and answered the phone. Ryan and Calleigh noticed that something was wrong. Whatever the caller had to say, it seemed to take some time. Maya was telling Frank what had happened between Eric and Horatio. Maya had checked Eric and Horatio's house, but Eric wasn't there. She needed help finding him, because he had turned off his phone.

"I'll see if I can find him." Frank said, "Talk to ya later."

"Who was that?" Ryan asked.

"Maya. Eric lashed out at Horatio, misunderstood something H said, and now he's nowhere to be found." Frank sighed, "He's exhausted and shocked, even stressed. He's had a rough night."

"Well, whatever he said, I' sure he didn't mean it." Calleigh said.

"I know, but we need to find him. At least to know that he's alive." Frank sighed, "I'm going to check a few churches. Maybe Eric is there."

"Has Maya checked the beach?" Ryan asked.

"No, just the one outside his and H's house." Frank said.

"We can take the dogs for a walk and check the beach on the same time. We can walk to their house from here, maybe he's somewhere along the way." Calleigh said.

"I hope so." Frank said and walked towards his car.

Ryan and Calleigh started walking down the beach. Since the carrier would be hard to push in the sand, they left it in the car and decided to just carry Riley in their arms. Ryan locked the car and then they started walking. As they passed more and more houses, with no sign of Eric and no phone call from Frank, telling them that he had found the, they started getting worried. They really didn't want Eric to be gone. Horatio needed him.

**-I-**

**Tuesday 2****nd**** July. 10:15**

Frank was tired. As was Natalia. She had joined him in the search of Eric. They had searched all night, calling his sisters and father. Eric was still gone. Frank and Natalia were waiting for a car thief to join them for an interrogation. The night shift had called Frank late last night and told him that they had arrested a car thief who had some blood on his shoes. The blood was a match to Ratner's blood. After a few hours of sleep, Frank and Natalia were now going to interrogate him. Two officers were leading the big man inside the room. He glared at Frank and smiled at Natalia.

"Garret Diamond. You have quite a long rap sheet." Frank said, "Arrested nine times. You have been in and out jail for about fifteen years."

"I know all that." Garret said and then smiled at Natalia, "Wazzup officer sexy?"

"Mr. Diamond, you stole a car last night and got caught." Natalia said, "But that's not the reason you're here."

"Maybe I am here to see you." Garret winked.

"No, you're here because you got blood on your shoes. Blood that belong to a dead judge."

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Garret said.

"Did you run into Joseph Ratner a few days ago?" Frank asked, "Maybe talked to him a little or beat him?"

"I have nothing to do with that asshole!" Garret snapped, "But I'm not sorry that he's dead."

"All these time that you were sent to jail, it was Ratner that decided your sentence." Natalia said, "You never liked him did you?"

"He was an asshole." Garret said, "But he's dead and I'm not sorry to hear that. I'm just sad that I didn't get the chance to kill him in jail."

"Garrett. I don't think you understand here." Frank said, "Ratner was found beaten and stabbed on the 24th June."

"So, I didn't kill him!" Garret growled, "I saw that piece of shit! He was out of jail! I couldn't believe my eyes. So I introduced him to my big stick that I found. Beat the shit out of him. And then left him a garden."

"So you do know what we're talking about then!" Natalia smirked, "I thought you said you had no idea."

"Listen you bitch, I ain't going to jail for murder. Because I didn't kill anyone!" Garret said.

"Well you are going to jail for assault." Frank smirked, "Take him away."

The two officers cuffed Garret and led him out. Natalia sighed and sat down by the table.

"So who killed Ratner?" She asked, "We can only prove that he beat him. But he was stabbed three hours later. And Garret didn't do it."

"So you believe his story?" Frank asked.

"Yeah."

"Me too." Frank sighed.

**-I-**

**12:00**

Since Horatio had found out that Eric was nowhere to be found he hadn't talked to anyone. If he was awake, he just stared at the ceiling until he fell asleep again. He missed Eric terribly. But he was beginning to think that Eric had left him. Alexx was sitting next to him. Trying to reach him. Horatio didn't hear anything. He couldn't stop thinking that he must have done something wrong. Something he said that was wrong. If it was a simple misunderstanding then why wasn't Eric back yet? Horatio didn't want to live without Eric.

"Horatio, please eat something." Alexx sighed.

Horatio hadn't eaten for several hours. He hadn't even cried. He was just laying there. Alexx and everybody else were worried about him. They knew that Horatio wouldn't fight for survival if Eric wasn't with him. Without Eric, he had no reason to live. Bryce had told Horatio more about his tumors, but it was like speaking to a wall. Horatio wasn't really listening.

"Horatio, Eric will come back." Alexx said.

"He doesn't love me anymore." Horatio said quietly as he closed his eyes.

Alexx gently caressed his cheek. Then his heart monitor started beeping loudly. His heart rate was way too fast.

"Horatio baby, calm down!" Alexx said and pressed the nurse button.

Horatio wasn't responding. Alexx shook him and tried to wake him up.

"Horatio open your eyes!" Alexx said.

She knew that Horatio was under a lot of pressure and that he was giving up. She couldn't let him.

Suddenly the line went flat.

_**TBC…**_

**AN: Please review!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Tuesday 2nd**** July. 12:00**

Two nurses and Bryce rushed into the room. Alexx stepped away from Horatio, while Bryce started doing CPR. Alex was crying. She couldn't believe what was happening in front of her eyes. Horatio actually triggered his own cardiac arrest because he was convinced that Eric didn't love him anymore. But nothing could be further from the truth! Eric was just as shocked as Horatio and hade made a mistake. However, it was a mistake that could easily be repaired if Eric just came back.

"Dr. Woods I would suggest that you leave." Bryce said.

Alexx couldn't leave. She didn't want to leave. But she didn't want to see Horatio die… no, she couldn't stand there and believe that he was going to die. Bryce charged the paddles and pressed them against Horatio's chest.

"Clear!" He yelled.

Horatio body jerked, but nothing happened. He was still in cardiac arrest. Alexx sobbed and slid down the wall. She couldn't loose Horatio. He was one of her closest friends. He was family.

"Clear!" Bryce yelled.

Again, nothing happened. Horatio was giving up.

"Come one Caine, come one!" Bryce yelled and tried the paddles again.

Horatio's body jerked and the monitor started beeping again. He had a pulse! Alexx smiled and wiped her tears away. She ran towards Horatio and squeezed his hand hard. Horatio didn't respond. He was unconscious. Or worse… in a coma. Alexx kissed his cheek and told him not to scare her like that.

"Is Mr. Delko back yet?" Bryce asked.

Alexx shook her head. Joseph and Maya were still searching for him. But he was nowhere to be found. Bryce and the nurses went to leave. However, they didn't make it to the door before Horatio's heart started beating too slow. He seemed to fight for his next breath.

"Horatio, come on. Don't do this." Alexx said.

The line went flat again! Bryce and his nurses charged the paddles again and Alexx stood back. Tears ran down her cheeks again as Bryce tried to save Horatio's life.

"Clear!" He yelled.

Nothing happened. Horatio had lost his will to live. Without Eric, he had nothing. Eric was his reason to live. He needed Eric. The door suddenly opened and Maya ran forward. She pushed one of the nurses away and bent down to Horatio's ear.

"I found him." She whispered and squeezed his hand.

She then stepped back and hugged Alexx. Both of them were crying. Eric was on his way to the hospital with Joseph. She just hoped that Horatio had heard her. That his heart had understood that his lover was coming back to him.

"Clear!" Bryce yelled.

Horatio's heart didn't respond. Maya looked at him. He looked like he was asleep. He looked peaceful. But the difference was that he wasn't breathing. And he wouldn't wake up.

"Come on! Clear!"

Once again, the monitor started beeping. Bryce smiled and ran a hand through his hair. He checked Horatio's lungs and heart several times.

"I want to examine him again." Bryce said, "I think he might have slipped into a coma."

Alexx and Maya sighed. They left the room, while Bryce examined Horatio. As they sat down in the hallway outside. They both thought about how close they had come to loosing Horatio once again. They sat there for so long that they didn't see Eric and Joseph approaching.

"Alexx?" Eric asked, "Alexx can you hear me?"

Alexx snapped out of her thought and saw Eric kneeling in front of her. She gave him a hug and then glared at him.

"He almost died Eric." She said.

"I know. I made a terrible mistake." Eric said sadly.

He was crying. Alexx could stand it and hugged him tightly.

"I misunderstood him. I'm so stupid." He sobbed.

"No, no. It happens. I think what was worse for Horatio is that it took you so long to come back. Or well, for us to find you." Joseph said.

"Where were you hiding?" Alexx asked.

"I went to see my mom actually. I was at her grave for several hours. I needed to get some anger out of me and sat there. Talking to her headstone." Eric sighed, "I asked some things. I was angry."

"And then where did you go?" Maya asked.

"I walked around in town for a while. I even went to a club. I though that Horatio and I were over. That if I went back he would hate me. So I almost ended up with a girl, but when she flirted with me… I felt so guilty and then I knew that I couldn't do that to Horatio." Eric sighed, "I love him so much."

Bryce opened the door and stepped outside. He didn't look happy.

"What's wrong?" Eric asked.

"He's in a coma." Bryce sighed, "He's going to surgery tomorrow."

"Can I see him?" Eric asked.

"Of course."

Eric nodded and walked in to the room. He sat down by Horatio's side and kissed his hand.

"I'm so sorry H. I was wrong. I made a mistake." Eric whispered in his ear and then kissed his cheek.

Joseph, Maya and Alexx decided to give him some time alone and went to eat some lunch.

**-I-**

**13:45**

Frank didn't like a specific part of the plan. However, it had to be done. He needed help from the person he more then anything wanted to shoot. The person that all the cops hated. And probably many others too. Erica Sykes. He was waiting for her at the PD. He, Natalia and Ryan had talked about a plan on how to catch Ratner's killer. And now they had the perfect plan. At least they hoped it would work. Erica smirked as she walked towards Frank.

"Well, well, Srgt. Tripp. Finally seeing my true potential?" She asked.

"Not really. We need your help." Frank said, "You and your cameraman's help."

Erica chuckled and waved towards her van. Her cameraman immediately jumped out of the van with his camera. Frank sighed and led them inside the PD. He took her to one of the interrogation rooms and she sat down with her cameraman by the table.

"What do you need?" Erica asked.

"We need you to go on the news and say that Ratner's death was fake." Frank sighed.

"You haven't found the killer yet?" Erica asked.

"No, and we hope he's watching the news." Frank said, "If you say that Ratner's death was fake, he might get angry enough to show up here to check it."

"Sounds like a good plan. What's in it for me?" Erica asked, smirking.

"The chance to finally do something good."

"I want the guarantee that you guys will return the favor in the future." Erica smirked.

Frank sighed. This was why he hated this specific part of the plan. Erica was a smart woman.

"I can't promise you that." Frank said.

He would never promise Erica that he and the team would one day return the favor. Never. He knew she would use the favor at a bad time. When she had gotten into some serious problem. Frank wasn't about to be dragged in to something like that.

"Fine. Some money then." Erica sighed.

"Here is six thousand." Frank said and gave her an envelope.

He and the team had of course talked to the chief before taking the plan into action. And the chief had provided them with the money. Erica smirked and took the envelope. She stood up.

"Pleasure doing business with ya." She chuckled and left.

Frank shook his head. Erica just had one person she wanted to see before she left. She knew that Ryan had recently become a father. That he was supposed to spend some time with his wife and daughter. But the team needed his help for a few days. She was just going to stop by to say hello. Her cameraman followed her to the lab. She saw Rayn at the receptionist desk and smiled as she waited for him to notice her.

"Erica? Haven't Frank talked to you already?" Ryan asked as he noticed Erica.

"Yes he has. But I thought that maybe you, me and Benny here should talk." Erica smiled.

Benny was the cameraman. Ryan sighed. He gave them a visitor's pass and walked with them towards his lab. Erica smiled.

"So, what do you want?" Ryan asked.

"I was thinking about using the morgue as a location for the recording." Erica said.

"Good idea. Make sure to show that it's the morgue. Maybe the killer will come here and look for Ratner." Ryan said, "Shall we?"

Erica nodded. She and Benny followed Ryan towards the morgue. Erica found the perfect spot after a while. It was right outside the morgue. She made sure that the text behind her, saying: _Miami Dade Morgue_. Could be seen the whole time. Ryan watched as she and Benny started recording. Erica was good as a reporter. Sometimes too good. Because she didn't know when to stop. When she was done. She and Ryan walked back inside. As they walked through the hallway in the morgue, Ryan stopped and looked after Benny.

"Where did Benny go?" He asked.

"Probably using the bathroom." Erica shrugged.

Ryan nodded. Erica grabbed his hand and smiled at him.

"Can't we talk a little? We haven't seen each other in a long time." She said.

"We're not friends, so there is no reason for us to see each other."

"Ryan come on. Having a wife and kid must be a little bit boring." Erica sighed.

"Not at all." Ryan smiled.

Erica leaned forward and kissed Ryan hard. She pressed him against the wall and ran her hands through his hair.

"Erica, stop." Ryan said and pushed her away.

Ericaa smirked and ran her hands down his chest. Ryan grabbed her hands and pushed her back again. This time she fell. Or more or less pretended to fall.

"What's wrong with you?" Ryan asked, "I'm married."

"It hasn't stopped other married guys."

"Well, I'm not like other married guys." Ryan snapped, "Just stop!"

Erica stood up and sighed. She walked back towards the outside of the morgue. Ryan shook his head and walked back to the lab. Erica laughed as she met Benny right outside the door.

"Did you get it?" She asked.

"All of it." Benny smiled, "I will cut it off right before he pushes you away."

"Perfect. Now I have my guarantee for a return favor." Erica smirked.

**-I-**

**16:00**

Eric winced as Joseph patted his back. Joseph looked confused at him.

"When I was at the graveyard last night. I took my shirt of because it was so hot outside. I got burned." Eric sighed.

Joseph burst out laughing. Eric pretended to look offended, but ended up laughing with his father. Tears ran down Joseph's cheek as he laughed. Eric usually never got burned. Eric took his shirt off and showed his father how red he was. It made Joseph laugh more.

"You were shirtless at a graveyard?" Joseph asked as he calmed down, "And you got burned? You usually never get burned."

"I did this time." Eric shrugged, "It was hot yesterday. I thought I was going to melt."

"Well, I guess you will be sensitive for a few days now." Joseph chuckled.

"I can deal with that." Eric smiled, "I don't want to leave H… but I'm starting to get hungry."

"Well, we can eat a quick meal." Joseph said.

Eric nodded and bent down to Horatio's ear again.

"I'm just going out for a while to eat. I will be back soon." He whispered and gave him a kiss before leaving.

Eric looked back while he walked towards the door. He wanted to make sure that Horatio didn't go into cardiac arrest again. He looked at Horatio for so long that he bumped into a wall.

"He will be fine." Joseph smiled, "Watch where you're going."

Eric blushed and nodded. He walked towards a small restaurant near the hospital with Joseph. As they sat down and waited for their food, Eric closed his eyes and almost fell asleep. Joseph chuckled at his son.

"I envy the love between you and H." Joseph smiled.

Eric opened his eyes and looked shocked at his father. Joseph was such a caring and kind man. He had much love to give. Eric always found it strange that Joseph didn't have a woman by his side.

"Dad, you have much love to give. And one day you will find someone to have at your side." Eric smiled.

"I hope so. But I am happy that my son has found someone to share such a strong love with. You guys are meant for each other. Not many people have what you have."

"I know. And I'm happy with Horatio. I feel lucky to wake up with him every morning." Eric grinned, "And I know that he's happy with me."

"And you're married." Joseph smiled, "Before I found out that you were in a gay relationship. I probably wouldn't have supported the gay community so much. I winced at the idea of two men or two women together. Especially married. But now… I support them all very much. In fact, my life got better when you told us the truth. When you didn't have to hide anymore."

"I'm sorry it took me so long to tell you. Well, actually I didn't tell you." Eric chuckled at the memory.

In fact, he and Valera had tried to fool his parents, Raquel and Joseph, that Eric was dating Valera. Eric was afraid to tell his parents about his true love and he didn't want to fight with them on Horatio's birthday. It had worked. However, a few days later, Horatio was in an accident. And Raquel and Joseph saw them kissing at the hospital. It had been Eric's sister who had talked some sense into Joseph. But Raquel had never changed. She had even tried to kill Horatio and Joseph.

"Well, I don't think it's good to push someone to the truth. Maybe in your line of work. However, sometimes, if it is a private matter, you need to be ready when you tell someone a secret. In needs to be on your own terms. And I don't think I realized that back then." Joseph said, "But I've changed."

"I have too." Eric smiled widely.

**-I-**

**17:30**

Ryan and Cooper were waiting for the first news report to show on TV. Erica's boss had been notified about her report, so now all the team had to do was to wait and see if the killer would get angry enough to make a mistake. The door to the break room opened and both Cooper and Ryan got scared.

"Damn Frank!" Cooper exclaimed.

"I wanna bet." Frank smirked, "Erica's report is going to make every single news reporter in Miami stand by the steps of MDPD within ten minutes."

"No way, she's probably told everyone the truth. You know how she is. She has to be in the spotlight all the time." Cooper sighed.

"Wanna bet?" Frank smirked.

"Okay, what does the looser have to do?" Cooper asked.

"Run two laps in the lab… naked." Frank laughed.

"Prepare to strip Frank." Cooper smirked.

"I won't loose." Frank said and shook hands with Cooper.

He sat down on the couch with Ryan and Cooper and watched the TV. The news started and soon Erica's face could be seen on the screen.

"_Sources from MDPD say that Judge Joseph Ratner is not dead. His death is said to have been fake and he is in fact in witness protection after witnessing a crime." _Erica smiled and talked about how MDPD was protecting Ratner.

Ryan and Cooper smirked. Erica was good at choosing the right words to say. She knew exactly how to piss someone off. When Erica's face disappeared, Frank walked out of the lab down to the entrance of MDPD. Cooper and Ryan followed him. Cooper was sure he wouldn't loose the bet. Besides Cooper still had to get his revenge for the tutu that Frank had put on him. The bets and the war were two different things. Cooper had already thought of his revenge. Frank laughed as several reporters started arriving. It had only been five minutes since Erica's report. Cooper paled and looked at his watch.

"Shit." He sighed.

"Five more minutes Cooper." Ryan said, "They might leave."

"We both know that they're not going to leave." Cooper sighed in defeat.

After another five minutes. The three men walked back to the lab. Cooper looked at Frank with pleading eyes.

"Get naked." Frank smirked, "Ryan get a video camera."

"I'm not on your side." Ryan said.

"You are tonight." Frank smirked.

Ryan shook his head and refused. Frank sighed. What Frank didn't know was that his gift was done. Soon he would find happy and also embarrassing pictures of himself on video and it could be seen as a prank by Ryan and Cooper. Cooper blushed as he walked to the locker room. He stripped and then covered his privates with his hands. He was happy that not so many lab techs were working at the moment. Frank was laughing before Cooper had even started running. Natalia came out of the ladies room just as a naked Cooper ran past her. Cooper had never run so fast before. Ryan couldn't contain his laughter. He laughed so hard that he crouched down on the floor and even cried. Frank tried to breathe and laugh at the same time.

"I hate you Frank!" Cooper growled as he ran past them.

When he finished with his first lap, he started on the second. He was blushing and looking down at the floor. Natalia was still outside the ladies room and just stared in shock as Cooper passed her once again.

"I'm going to get you for this!" Cooper said as he ran past Frank and Ryan again.

As soon as his last lap was done, he ran to the locker room and got dressed. Then he refused to show himself for another hour. Natalia walked up to her boyfriend and Ryan.

"You guys are so weird." She chuckled and shook her head.

"I didn't know Cooper ran so fast." Frank laughed.

Ryan stopped laughing and stood up. The elevator doors opened and the Chief walked towards them.

"I just got a call from Steven who is monitoring the surveillance cameras. He said a naked guy was running around here." The Chief said.

"Not at all Chief." Frank said.

"I saw the tape Tripp." The Chief said, "What did I tell you about the war? You can't do it at work."

"Cooper lost a bet, Sir." Frank grinned, "Nothing else."

The Chief sighed and shook his head as he walked back to the elevator and went back to his office. Frank and Ryan chuckled and said goodnight. Ryan was going home, while Frank and Natalia would be prepared in case the killer showed up. As Ryan exited the lab, the reporters started shouting questions at him. He ignored them and walked to the parking lot. He sighed as he saw Erica standing right next to his car.

"Erica, leave." He said.

"I want you to do something for me." She smirked, "I did a favor for you. Not you get to return it. Tripp refused to give me a guarantee that I could ask for a favor in the future. So I got myself a guarantee."

"What did you do?" Ryan asked.

Erica smirked and showed him a video on her phone. Ryan paled as he saw Erica kissing him and pushing him against the wall. The video stopped just before Ryan pushed her away.

"Erica!" Ryan growled, "Did Benny record that?"

"Benny is a naughty boy." Erica smirked, "I want something from you."

"What is that?"

"I want you to make love to me. Do it, or I will send this to your wife." Erica smirked.

Ryan paled and just looked into Erica's eyes. He knew she was evil. But _that _evil?

"Erica. I can't do that." He growled.

"Are you absolutely sure?" She asked.

"Yes."

Erica smirked and made a quick phone call. Ryan looked confused at her.

"Well Ryan, I had expected you to say that. So I made sure that Benny was at your home." Erica smirked, "He just gave your wife a little gift."

Ryan gasped and quickly opened his car with his key. He pushed Erica out of the way and drove off. He called Frank and told him what Erica had done. Frank said he would make her have a little talk with Natalia. Ryan broke many traffic laws as he drove home. When he arrived, he opened the door and found Calleigh in the living room. She was watching the video.

"What he hell did you do Ryan?" She asked and glared at him, "You can't forget about her can you? Every time you see her you want to fuck her is that it?"

"Calleigh, she cut of the video on purpose. I push her away after the kiss. But she deleted it." Ryan said.

He walked towards Calleigh and tried to hug her. Calleigh slapped him across the face and pushed him backwards.

"You kissed her Ryan!" She yelled.

She played the video again and this time Ryan actually saw how he himself deepened the kiss. He had no memory of doing that.

"I don't remember doing that." He said.

"I suppose you don't remember grabbing her ass either!" Calleigh growled.

Ryan watched as his hand squeezed Erica's ass. He gasped and couldn't take his eyes off the screen. The video played over and over again.

"I pushed away. I swear!" Ryan said, "She deleted it."

"Your intentions are pretty clear Ryan. You wanted her!" Calleigh growled, "I get it. She's not your wife; she didn't have a kid recently. She is probably much sexier then me. She's an adventure isn't she? Because when you're here you sleep with the same woman all the time."

"Calleigh, you know that's not true. I'm not like that." Ryan said.

"I didn't think you were the kind of man who kissed another woman either!" Calleigh cried.

Riley's cried could be heard from the nursery. Calleigh walked passed Ryan. He grabbed her arms softly.

"Don't you dare touch me!" Calleigh growled.

Ryan sighed and let go. He heard Calleigh's happy voice as she picked their daughter up. Ryan was furious. Erica had planner it al along. She wanted Ryan for herself. But she wasn't going to get him. Ryan walked passed the nursery and towards the front door. He had someone he had to talk to. Calleigh started crying as Ryan left. He was going to Erica. She knew it.

_**TBC…**_

**AN: Please review!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Tuesday, July**** 2nd. 21:30**

Ryan grinned as he spotted the man he was looking for. Benny, Erica's cameraman, was just leaving work. Ryan had been waiting for him to show up for several hours. He need to make things right. However, he couldn't do it without Benny. Ryan had to control himself as he approached Benny from behind. He wanted to him hit and beat him. Possibly kill him. But, he knew it was the wrong things to do.

"Hi Benny." Ryan said.

Benny froze and turned around. He knew Calleigh had seen the video, since he had dropped it off at Calleigh and Ryan's house. He hadn't expected Ryan to turn up though.

"Dt. Wolfe, pleasure to meet you again." Benny smiled.

"Cut the bullshit Benny. You know why I'm here."

"Look, she paid me." Benny said, "Five thousand dollars!"

Ryan shook his head. He was always amazed at what people would do for money. Usually it was a low amount of money too. But people could kill for that money. Ryan stepped closer to Benny and grabbed his collar. He pushed him against his car. Benny was scared; it was evident in his eyes.

"You're going to give me the right video." Ryan growled, "And you're going to help me make everything right."

"I can't do it. I'll lose my job."

"Benny, I'm about to lose my wife and child. I don't care about your job." Ryan said, "Help me or lose your life."

"That's a threat." Benny said nervously.

"Who is going to believe an asshole like you?" Ryan smirked evilly.

He let go of Benny and pushed him forwards, back towards his job. Benny walked quickly towards his desk. The sooner he gave Ryan the right video, the sooner he could get home. Erica would kill him though. Benny searched through his drawers and grew more nervous when he couldn't find the video. Ryan was furious as he watched Benny searched for the video three times.

"It's not there, is it?" He asked.

"It was here when I left for lunch." Benny sighed, "I swear it was!"

Ryan growled. He only knew one person that would steal the video. The video was most likely destroyed, making it impossible for Ryan to show Calleigh the right video. However, he could do something else.

"There is something else you can do for me." Ryan smirked.

Benny gulped. He didn't like the look in Ryan's eyes. Ryan forced Benny out to his car. They drove to MDPD.

**-I-**

**21:45**

Cooper smirked as he walked up to Frank's desk. The big Texan was sleeping with his head on his desk. Cooper was going to start his prank. If he was lucky, he would be able to fool Frank for several days. If he was unlucky, Frank would figure it all out within hours. Cooper smirked as took out a scissor from his pocket. Carefully he started to cut away a little of Frank's hair. Frank didn't have much hair, but he did have a _little_ on the right and left side of his head. Cooper made sure that the hair he cut off stayed on the head. It was necessary for his prank. Then he left and went home. Frank woke up fifteen minutes later, when Natalia shook him.

"Wake up silly." Natalia sighed, "Let's give it one last try."

Natalia was talking about Erica. She had interrogated her twice already and Erica refused to say anything. She wasn't requesting a lawyer though. She just sat by the table in the interrogation room and smirked as Natalia tried to make her talk. Frank rubbed his eyes and stood up.

"What the?" He said and looked at the hair that had fallen on his shoulder.

It wasn't much, but it was enough to confuse Frank. He looked at the hair and then touched his head. He felt some more hair and grabbed it with his hand.

"Am I loosing my hair, Nat?" He asked.

"No." Natalia sighed and walked towards the interrogation room.

Frank followed, obviously confused about the sudden hair loss. Before entering the room, Natalia turned around.

"Frank honey, the little hair you have is still left on your head." She said and entered the room.

Frank shook his head. He wasn't blind. He had seen the hair fall from his head. He was already teased sometimes about his hair, or lack of it. He couldn't be loosing the rest of his hair could he? It wasn't possible. He needed it!

Frank made his mind focus on the interrogation as he joined Erica and Natalia.

"Ms. Sykes." Frank said, "You still refuse to talk I understand."

Erica just smirked. There was nothing Frank and Natalia could do. She had made sure to destroy the only copy of the video that proved what had really happened in the hallway outside the morgue. It was burned and buried underground. No one would find it. Ryan would have to divorce Calleigh and live with the constant suspicions of being a cheater.

"Well, here is what I think you're motive is." Frank said, "You're in love with Ryan. He's the only man you will ever love, and to get him, you have to get rid of Calleigh. And by making Ryan look bad, you hope he'll be crawling back to you."

Erica smiled. She couldn't deny the fact that she was indeed madly in love with Ryan. It was true. She wanted Ryan for herself. She wanted to control him and make him live with her for the rest of her life. She was a powerful woman and in the end, she would get what she wanted. Or so she thought.

"But… it's not going to happen." Natalia said.

The door suddenly opened and Ryan walked inside with a scared Benny close behind. Frank and Natalia looked confused at him, while Erica looked nervous. Noticing Erica's reaction, Natalia smirked evilly.

"Ah, I see we finally got a reaction out of you. Not so happy to see Benny, are ya?" Natalia asked.

"Erica, I finally found a way to get you." Ryan smiled, "Benny here has agreed to testify against you."

"What?" Erica asked, "For what? For kissing you?"

"No, for violating privacy." Frank said, "Ryan never agreed to be videotaped and you didn't inform him of it either. So you have violated his privacy."

Erica rushed towards Benny and started slapping him in the face. Ryan and Frank tried to separate them. Benny tried to protect himself from Erica's slaps.

"I'm going to kill you Benny!" Erica growled.

"Now I can charge you for making threats too." Frank smiled, "Keep it up Erica and there might be more charges."

Erica started crying as she sank down on the floor. She was going to loose everything. Her boss would fire her and she would have a rap-sheet. She had never cared about the consequences of her actions... until now.

"Please, I won't do anything like this again…just, please don't charge me." Erica sobbed.

"Go to hell!" Ryan growled.

He was sick of trying to be nice to her. Erica was a liar and a very evil woman. She only thought about herself, never anyone else. It was going to end now. Frank cuffed Erica and walked with her towards a holding cell. Natalia took Benny's statement. Ryan just went home.

He found himself standing outside his front door, thirty minutes later. He had completely forgotten how he had gotten home. However, he seemed to be alive and well. He was afraid of what would happen if he opened the door.

"Did you go to her?" Calleigh asked, from the garage.

Ryan jumped in fear and looked at her with sad eyes. Calleigh always sat in the garage when she needed to think. Ryan walked towards her and gave her a deep kiss.

"I would never go to her. I found her cameraman. He's going to testify against her." Ryan said, "She destroyed the real video, but I swear to you Calleigh that I will never cheat on you."

"I know." Calleigh sighed, "I should have known before too. I know you will never let me down."

Ryan kissed her deeply again and then just held her tightly for several minutes. They walked inside the house and watched as Riley slept.

"I was afraid I would lose you and Riley for ever." Ryan sighed, "I was afraid I would be alone again."

"Oh Ryan, I'm sorry. I would never do that to you."

"It's not your fault." Ryan smiled, "Erica is being charged for violating my privacy."

"Good." Calleigh said, "Then maybe she will finally leave us all alone."

Ryan nodded and kissed Riley on the forehead. She squirmed, but didn't wake up. Calleigh watched the interaction. Ryan would be such a wonderful father. Without a doubt.

**-I-**

**Wednesday, July 3****rd****. 08:15**

Frank was standing in front of the mirror in the bathroom. He was examining his head. He had less hair on the left side, he was sure of it. Natalia sighed as she stepped out of the shower and saw Frank still in front of the mirror.

"Give up Frank." She said.

"Nat, I'm telling you. I have less hair on my left side." Frank whined, "I don't want to go completely bald."

"You won't." Nat sighed, as she got dressed.

Frank reluctantly stepped away from the mirror to get dressed as well. Natalia chuckled as Frank kept feeling with his hand over his head. He was obsessed with the thought of becoming bald. Once they were dressed, they drove Madeline, Frank's youngest daughter, to school. It was raining and Madeline had misplaced her umbrella. Nat and Frank didn't want her to get soaked so they decided to drive her.

"Dad… did you shave your head on the left side?" Madeline asked.

"See!" Frank exclaimed and glared at Natalia, "I told you I was losing hair!"

Natalia rolled her eyes and turned the car towards the parking lot outside the school. Madeline felt somewhat cool, coming to school in a hummer. The other kids looked after the car as it drove across the parking lot.

"I'm going bald already!" Frank whined, "What if it's something radioactive?"

"It's only because you're getting older." Natalia said.

"Yeah dad, I'm mean you're 50." Madeline smirked.

"Thanks for reminding. No gifts for you ever again." Frank muttered.

"See it as something good dad. As you get older, everyone will respect you more. They will let you take the best seat on a train and bus, talk to you nicely all the time." Madeline smiled.

"They will also rob me because I will be an easy victim." Frank sighed.

"A man as tall as you? I don't think so." Madeline said.

Natalia stopped the car and Madeline climbed out of it. She walked towards the driver's side window.

"Thanks for the ride." She smiled, "Are you going to pick me up?"

"If it's raining and we don't get a case." Natalia smiled, "See you later honey."

"Bye mom!" Madeline smiled and ran towards her school.

Natalia looked shocked at Frank. Madeline had never called her mom before. Frank grinned widely. His three daughters real mother had been shot over a year ago. They all liked Natalia, but up until now, none of them had called Natalia mom. It wasn't something that they had do. It was up to them.

"Wow." Natalia smiled, "That was sweet!"

"Yes it was." Frank said and then kissed Natalia on the cheek softly.

"If you cut your hair on the right side if won't be so noticeable that you're getting less hair." Natalia smirked.

"So you have seen it!"

"Duh! It's obvious." Natalia chuckled, "Frank, I won't love you less because you get bald."

"Hey! I'm not bald… yet." Frank whined.

"Poor little Frank." Natalia teased.

She drove towards the lab. As they arrived at the lab, people looked at Frank. Frank blushed.

"Don't say it! I know." He growled as Ryan approached him and Natalia.

"Okay, I won't." Ryan smiled, "I've got something to show you."

"How did things work out with Cal?" Natalia asked.

"Everything is fine." Ryan smiled, "She told me she already knew I would never cheat on her when I came home."

"I'm glad everything has worked out." Natalia smiled.

Ryan nodded and opened the door to Cooper's lab. Cooper tried not to laugh as he saw Frank. Frank glared at him.

"I know I look funny." He growled, "Shut up and work."

"Somebody called 911 early this morning." Cooper said, "And left a little message."

"_**911, what's your emergency?"**_

"_**I did it. I killed Joseph Ratner. I did it for Casey."**_

"_**Sir, what did you just say? Have you killed someone?"**_

"_**I did it for Casey. Tell the police."**_

"Then he hung up." Ryan sighed, "We have no idea who it is. Or who Casey is."

"Haven't you checked all the cases that Ratner judged in, for someone with the name Casey?" Natalia asked.

"We have. However, it could be a first or last name. We have a total of 12 cases with someone involved with the name Casey." Cooper sighed.

"So even with this message, we're not any closer of finding the killer?" Frank asked.

"Nope." Ryan sighed.

**-I-**

**10:30**

Eric was holding Horatio's hand as he was wheeled towards surgery. Horatio was firmly gripping his hand, but he hadn't opened his eyes. Eric knew he was exhausted, but at least now, he knew that Horatio felt his presence.

"It's going to be okay." Bryce smiled.

"I really hope so." Eric sighed.

He strongly believed that Horatio would survive, but he also knew that there was a big risk that he wouldn't. And even if he survived, the might never be the same man again. Eric would stick with him no matter what though. He would never leave the red head. He had promised not to. And he would never ever break that promise.

"This is where you have to say goodbye." Bryce said.

Eric nodded and bent down next to Horatio's ear. He kissed the side of his head softly.

"I love you." He whispered and then let go of Horatio's hand.

Bryce smiled and wheeled Horatio's inside a room. Eric had to wait in the waiting area. As he walked back, he was approached by Alexx and Joseph.

"Why don't you go home and get some sleep?" Joseph asked, "He will be fine."

"I won't be able to sleep while Horatio is in surgery." Eric sighed and sat down in a chair.

Joseph and Alexx sat down beside him. They were also worried. An old Dt. approached them and told them about the updates on the case with Ratner. Eric didn't really care. All his focus was on Horatio.

"But nothing has changed; they're still not closer to finding the killer." The Dt. said sadly.

Eric nodded. He jumped in fear as his phone started ringing. He answered it, but could barely focus on what was being said. He did hear that it was Frank on the other end. Frank told him the same thing that the Dt. had just said.

"I know. Dt. Fallon just told us." Eric said.

"Why is he there?" Frank asked.

"I don't know."

"Let me talk to him." Frank said.

Eric shrugged and gave the phone to Dt. Fallon. Fallon stepped away to talk to Frank. The call didn't last very long. And once it ended, Fallon gave the phone back to Eric and then left. Eric noticed how something seemed off about the Dt. After he had given the phone back. He shook his head. He was probably just imagining things.

Dt. Fallon rushed out of the hospital. He had heard the suspicion in Frank's voice. He had been caught! It was over now! However, he was on a mission. A mission to make people see who Ratner had really been. He drove to MDPD and stopped his car outside. He sighed as he un-holstered his gun and walked towards the entrance. He hid his gun behind his back. A few officers greeted him. He hated to disappoint them with what he was about to do.

"Dt. Fallon!" Frank said as he walked towards the old man.

Dt. Fallon raised his gun towards Frank. All the officers responded with aiming their guns at Fallon. Frank didn't do anything except stop walking. He was afraid that the old man would shot him, if he touched his gun.

"Dt. Fallon, you should know better." Frank said.

"Srgt. Tripp, I did it. I murdered Judge Ratner." Dt. Fallon said.

The officers gasped and looked at each other. One of their own had murdered a judge. It didn't matter that he had murdered a bad judge, he had still _murdered_ someone. He was supposed to protect people from murderers, not become one himself!

"I know. I heard the message you left when you called 911. When I talked to you on the phone, I recognized your voice." Frank sighed, "Shooting me won't solve anything. It will only make things worse."

Frank took a step closer to Fallon.

"Stay there!" Fallon growled, "I did this for Casey."

Fallon reached into the pocket in his suit and picked out a picture of a beautiful young woman. The woman couldn't be older then 20 in the picture.

"This is my daughter. She was caught shop-lifting ten years ago." Fallon said, tears were falling from his eyes.

Frank's heart broke for the old man. He understood that the murder of Ratner had been an act of revenge. He felt sorry for Fallon. He really did. Even though he hated Ratner.

"Ratner was the judge in her case. He sentenced her to spend 23 years in prison. 23 years for _shoplifting_! I've met burglars who have gotten less!" Fallon sobbed, "She hung herself on her first day in prison, and she wrote in a letter that she couldn't stand the thought of being in jail for so long."

"Fallon, the gun please." Frank said and stepped forward.

Fallon knew everything was over for him now. He would go to jail and possibly be murdered there. His life had ended. But he didn't regret his choice. He didn't regret murdering Ratner. He did it for his daughter.

"When I saw Ratner out as a free man, I killed him! I stabbed him!" Fallon growled, "I was hiding in the roses in the garden he was killed. A man ruined my plan at first when he caught up with Ratner before me. But since he left him alive, I saw my chance. And I took it."

By now more Detectives had shown up and Ryan and Amber too. Amber walked up next to Frank. She looked Fallon in the eyes as she reached for the gun.

"Fallon look at me." She said, "We know you did it now. But don't make this worse then it has to be. Give me the gun."

"Stand back!" Fallon growled, "My will to live ended when Casey died."

Amber and Frank glanced at each other. They knew Fallon was going to kill himself. Just as Fallon pulled the trigger, Amber reached out for the gun. Seven bullets went through the air in the same moment. Only three people were hit! Two of them died.

_**TBC…**_

**AN: Please review!**


	13. Chapter 13

**Wednesday July, 3****rd****. 10:50**

Alexx was pacing in the waiting are in the hospital. She wanted to know how Frank, Amber and Fallon were doing. Fallon had been shot three times, Amber and Frank only once. She didn't want to except the worst, but something told her that she would be going to a funeral soon.

Eric was with her. He was shocked. He wasn't sure if anyone could deal with the pressure of almost losing, Horatio, Frank and Amber. Fallon wasn't really a friend, but if he died, it would still be tragic. Alexx looked towards the doorway as she heard the clicking of high heels approaching, but it wasn't a nurse that entered the room. It was Calleigh! And she was carrying Riley in her arms.

"Alexx, don't even start!" Calleigh said, "I want to be here."

"I know." Alexx sighed, "We haven't heard anything yet."

"What about the case?" Calleigh asked.

"Ryan is in the lab. Natalia is on her way here." Alexx said and sighed at the thought of Natalia. And Frank's three daughters.

"Is Ryan working alone?" Calleigh asked.

"Cooper is helping him. Fallon killed Ratner because he sentenced his daughter to 23-years in prison for shop-lifting." Alexx said, "She killed herself and Fallon blamed Ratner. He wanted people to know what kind of a man he really was."

Calleigh sighed sadly as she sat down. She could understand Fallon's reason to commit murder and his anger towards Ratner. But he was still a murderer and had to face the consequences of his actions. However, Calleigh did feel sorry for the old man. Just a little bit.

"Ryan and Cooper are reading through all the case files with someone named Casey in it." Alexx said, "Then I guess they'll come here."

Calleigh nodded and then looked over at Eric. It was just too much for him. There was still a risk that he would lose his lover and now two of his friends. She gently squeezed Eric's hand and he looked up in to her eyes sadly.

"I'm okay." He said.

"Are you sure?" Calleigh asked.

Eric nodded. Horatio's surgery would take several more hours, yet Eric wanted to be on the third floor, waiting, just in case something happened. In case, Bryce had any news. Everybody got tense as they heard more footsteps approaching. But it wasn't a nurse this time either, it was Jason.

"Hi, I just heard what happened." He said, "Any news?"

"Nothing." Alexx sighed, "Can't you contact one of your old colleagues and ask them what's going on?"

"I can try." Jason said and walked out of the room.

He walked through the hallway, looking for someone he knew would be able to tell him something. He glanced into every single room he passed, but didn't find him. He sighed and turned to go back.

"Jason?" Someone asked from behind him.

"Colin!" Jason exclaimed, "Are you in charge of the three police officers who just arrived?"

"Yeah, I am." Colin sighed, "I was just going to tell the family what has happened."

Jason walked with him back towards the waiting area. Colin didn't look happy and the team knew he had bad news. By now, Natalia had arrived. She was crying and trying to stay in control.

"Are you family to Frank Tripp, Amber Jensen and William Fallon?" Colin asked.

"Yes we are." Calleigh said.

"Well, I have some good news and some bad news." Colin sighed, "Dt. Fallon died five minutes ago. He lost too much blood and there was nothing we could do, one bullet atually hit him in the heart."

The team wasn't sure how to really feel. Yes, Fallon had shot two people they cared deeply for, but he didn't deserve to die himself. He had made a mistake, but his death was very tragic. His wife, Janice, would have to live without both her husband and daughter now.

"Amber Jensen is barely hanging on. She's in surgery and I'm sorry to say that we don't think she will make it through the night." Colin said, "Frank Tripp was shot in the shoulder and although he was knocked unconscious as he fell to the ground, he is now awake and grumpy."

The team chuckled at Colin's shaky voice. Frank must have threatened him with something. Natalia sighed in relief and wiped her tears away. She hugged Colin as a thank you, before asking where Frank was. Colin walked with her towards Frank's room.

"Should we follow?" Jason asked.

"Let's give them some alone time." Alexx said, "Has anyone called Fallon's wife Janice?"

"Yes. I'll call her again." Jason said.

"You called Janice?" Calleigh asked.

It wasn't a part of Jason's job to call family to the victim. Jason shrugged.

"Ryan was too shocked to do it. I kind of took charge and found the number." He said.

"Good job." Alexx said.

**-I-**

**11:30**

Ryan was running around the lab. Trying to make sure everyone had something to work with. He was the only CSI in the lab and everybody were in shock of what had happened. They were glad to hear that Frank would be okay, but they still worried about Amber. Ryan had processed the crime scene all by himself. It wasn't much to process, but the captain wanted him to do it quickly. Ryan was now checking up on all the lab techs to see how they were doing.

The night shift DNA specialist, Rene, was working with the blood from the crime scene. Ryan wanted it tested, after he had figured out that Fallon's shoes, didn't match the third shoeprint from Ratner's crime scene.

"Cooper? Anything good?" Ryan asked as he entered Cooper's lab.

"Yes, actually." Cooper said, "Jason called Janice, Fallon's wife…"

"Yeah?"

"Um… well, Janice never showed up at the hospital." Cooper said, "And now she's not answering her phone."

"You think she might be guilty?" Ryan asked.

"Well, actually I did some checking. Janice Fallon doesn't exist." Cooper said, "It's fake."

"William faked his wife's name. Why would he do that?"

"I don't know Ryan." Cooper sighed, "Just… um, Casey Fallon doesn't exist either. Did you even read the file?"

Ryan glared at him.

"Of course I did." He snapped.

"Well, then you should have noticed that there is no case with a person named Casey Fallon."

Ryan picked up the files and read through all of them again. How could he have missed it? There were five girls name Casey as a first name, that had all met Ratner in court. None of them, had the last name Fallon.

"You're tired Ryan. Get some sleep okay." Cooper said, "I can't find Janice or Casey Fallon."

"But… then why would he...?" Ryan asked, "Was Fallon ever married?"

"Yes, in 1979-1983." Cooper sighed, "In 1981, he had a son named Cameron. His wife died in 1986. Her name was Lynette."

"Okay… try to find Cameron Fallon."

"Already on it. Now, please get some sleep." Cooper begged.

"When we're done." Ryan said and left.

Cooper sighed and went back to his search of Cameron Fallon. No one had ever heard of Lynette and Cameron Fallon. They had always thought that William Fallon had been married to a woman named Janice.

In the DNA lab, Rene had decided to test William's blood against criminals, to see if he was related to anyone. She knew that if he had a daughter that had been in jail, then her DNA would be in the system and she would pop up on the screen. But she didn't. Rene called Ryan, who arrived immediately.

"Well, Fallon doesn't have a daughter." Rene said.

"Cooper already told me that." Ryan sighed, "This doesn't make any sense. He wasn't at the crime scene, unless he changed his shoes after the murder, he doesn't have a daughter. He has a son and divorced a woman named Lynette, whom later died."

"So… he lied. About everything. He didn't kill Ratner." Rene said, "Why would he lie about that?... anyway, what do I do now?" Rene asked.

"Nothing for now. If we don't find this Janice-woman, then we're at a dead end." Ryan sighed and left.

**-I-**

**12:15**

Frank groaned in pain as he shifted in the bed. Natalia was asleep with her head on his bed. He smiled down at her. His three daughters were coming to see him. Alexx was driving them to the hospital after picking them up from school and work. His two oldest daughters had been too shocked to drive and Madeline, didn't have a car. He grinned widely as the door opened and his three girls ran to him. Natalia woke up and hugged them all.

"Why do you have to scare us so much?" Jenny asked, Frank's oldest daughter.

The middle child, Nelly nodded in agreement. Madeline was still clinging to her father.

"Don't argue. I'm just glad you're okay dad" Madeline smiled.

"So am I." Frank said, "I didn't exactly plan to get shot."

"We know. It's just hard because… well, we've already lost mom." Jenny sighed sadly, "We don't want to lose you too."

Madeline threw Natalia small smile. She was the only one who had called Natalia mom, even if it had only happened once. Jenny and Nelly had no problem accepting Natalia, but she would probably never be called mom by them.

"Alexx, can I leave the hospital?" Frank asked.

"Frank, you are exactly where you should be at the moment." Alexx said firmly, "Don't you girls let him leave, I have to get going before the lab falls apart."

She hugged everyone goodbye and then left. As soon as Alexx was gone, Jenny and Nelly glared at their father. Frank could see the playful twinkle in their eyes though.

"You better have a good reason as to why you want to go home so soon." Nelly said.

"Well, I want to spend time with my girlfriend and daughters. Is that a crime?" Frank asked.

"You should stay here and heal." Jenny said, "You heard what Alexx said and I'm sure that Nat won't let you leave."

"That's for sure." Natalia smiled, "Anyone want coffee?"

Jenny and Nelly nodded. They went with Natalia to get some coffee and Madeline was left alone with Frank. Frank bent down to her ear.

"Help me escape." He whispered.

"Why are you whispering dad, no one else is here." Madeline giggled, "You heard what Alexx and mom said."

"They're not here. You can just say that you went to the bathroom and when you came back I was gone."

"Why do you _really_ want to leave, dad?" Madeline asked.

Frank sighed and hung his head. He wanted to help in the investigation. He felt that he had to. Alexx had told him about the lab's findings and that Fallon had tricked everyone. He had died, for something he hadn't done.

"I want to help investigate." Frank sighed.

"Dad, the team is doing that. They can handle things without you." Madeline said, "You need to learn when to step back and relax."

"I guess you're right." Frank sighed, "Alright, I'll stay and _try_ to be a good boy. I don't promise anything."

"You are always a good boy." Madeline smiled.

"Tell that to the nurses." Natalia snorted as she entered the room with Jenny and Nelly close behind her.

"What? All I did was to firmly tell the two nurses that I did _not_ want to be put to sleep right now. I need to stay awake." Frank said.

"You growled at them and the doctor." Natalia said, "And you tried to get out of bed."

"They managed to hold me down." Frank exclaimed, "I did behave when you came in here."

"Barely." Natalia snorted.

Frank and Natalia spent the coming ten minutes discussing how to behave at a hospital. The girls watched them, very amused.

**-I-**

**15:45**

Cooper was sleeping with his head backwards and mouth open. He was snoring loudly. Ryan shook his head as he wondered how he would make Cooper wake up. _Really_ wake up! Sighing, Ryan decided to simply tickle the inside of Cooper's mouth with a q-tip. He grabbed a q-tip and carefully started to run it over Cooper's tongue and his cheeks. Cooper groaned and woke up. He sighed as he tried to get the ticklish feeling away. Ryan chuckled.

"Find anything?" Ryan asked.

" Nothing." Cooper said, "I can't find a Cameron Fallon anywhere."

"Maybe he changed his name."

"Great. He could have moved too and even died." Cooper sighed, "Ryan, I can't find him."

"Okay, what about the phone call to Janice?" Ryan asked.

After listening to call, Ryan and Cooper had noticed how Janice seemed eager to hang up the phone while talking to Jason. She only said she knew Fallon, not that she was his wife. And she had told Jason she would go to the hospital, which she hadn't.

"Well, I got an address on the phone number and it's in downtown Miami." Cooper said and gave Ryan a piece of paper with the address on it.

"Anything else?" Ryan asked.

"Yeah, the owner of the phone is named Roy Corvette." Cooper sighed.

Ryan froze. He had heard about the name many times before and he also knew he would have to Agent Monroe. Cooper looked confused at Ryan.

"What?" He asked

"Roy Corvette is a former assassin, protected by the FBI, after giving them information about Jack Bernard." Ryan said, "He worked for Jack and then one day he was caught after killing 13 people. He provided the FBI with enough information about Jack to confirm their suspicions about his organisation."

"But they could never arrest him." Cooper said.

"True. They needed more, but Roy was going to witness the day that Jack was brought to justice. Now Jack is dead." Ryan sighed.

"So, these two different cases are connected?" Cooper asked.

"Yeah." Ryan said, "I'll call Agent Monroe."

**-I-**

**16:00**

Eric rolled his eyes as he saw a familiar face approach him. Eric was still waiting for Horatio's surgery to be over. And even though he felt lonely, he didn't want this particular person to join him. Mr. Roberts sat down next to Eric and sighed.

"I need to talk to you." Mr. Roberts said.

"About what?"

"About Lt. Caine."

Eric sighed. He should have known that Mr. Roberts was there to speak about Horatio.

"He's in surgery." Eric said.

"I know. But the Neil Jacobs in NY still wants Horatio to testify to him."

"You recorded it!" Eric growled, "Isn't that enough?"

"No. He wants to hear it for himself."

"Horatio can't do that. He's sick. He almost died." Eric said.

"Well, after the surgery…"

Mr. Roberts did get the chance to say anything else as Eric stood up and grabbed his shirt, he pinned him against the wall and glared at him. Mr. Roberts sighed.

"He needs to heal!" Eric growled, "He has two tumours, do you understand that?"

"I do. But Neil…"

"Tell Neil, that if he tries to force Horatio to court in NY, he will find himself in a coffin very soon." Eric said with a cold voice.

"I have to speak to Horatio about this."

"Leave him alone!" Eric growled, "You've caused enough problems!"

Mr. Roberts was about to say something else, when Eric hit him in the face. Mr. Roberts fell down on the floor. Eric picked him up and was about to hit him again, but he managed to control himself. Mr. Roberts was bleeding from his nose.

"Do you understand that you're going to leave Horatio alone from now on?" Eric asked.

"I get it." Mr. Roberts sighed, "Are you insane?"

"No. I just know when someone needs to be hit to understand something. And you needed it."

Eric let go of Mr. Roberts, who sat down in a chair. Eric sat down a few seats away. Mr. Roberts wiped the blood away from his face and looked at Eric. Eric ignored him, though he could feel Mr. Roberts eyes on him.

"Has Horatio ever told you about his childhood?" Mr. Roberts asked.

"Leave." Eric growled.

"Did he ever tell you how his father beat him everyday? How his uncle liked to join the torture?" Mr. Roberts asked.

Eric could feel himself getting close to the edge of crying. Horatio had never told him that, but he didn't have to. Eric already knew that Horatio's childhood had been violent, he had seen it in his eyes. In the way Horatio would flinch from physical contact sometimes. The way he had been scared to let Eric touch him in the beginning of their relationship. He had always known, but he knew Horatio would tell him the whole story when he was ready.

"Leave." Eric said, much softer this time.

Mr. Roberts nodded and stood up to leave. Before he walked away, he took out a file from his suitcase and gave it to Eric.

"This is what his father and uncle did to him." Mr. Roberts said, "Horatio was photographed as his parents died. He never told anyone where the scars and bruises came from, but the cops knew it anyway."

Eric took the file, but didn't open it. Mr. Roberts walked away and Eric just stared at the file. He knew it would be filled with pictures. Pictures of his lover as a young boy. Pictures that would show what kind of monsters his father and uncle had been, especially his father.

Eric felt a few tears fall from his eyes as he thought about if he should open the file. _Was it fair?_ Maybe it was necessary. He wasn't sure. He had to admit that he was very curious to see the photos, so that he might be able to understand what Horatio came from. Understand him on a deeper level. But, was it fair? Was it his place to see what Horatio's past had been like, before Horatio had even had a chance to tell him? Eric wiped his tears away and left the file on the chair next to him. He wasn't going to open it. _Not yet anyway_.

_**TBC…**_

**AN: Please review!**


	14. Final

**Wednesday July 3****rd****. 19:30**

Ryan rolled his eyes as Monroe sneezed again, he had a cold. They were outside Roy Corvette's house together with SWAT. Roy was supposed to be taken alive and unharmed if possible. There was a woman inside the house, most likely Janice.

"You know that Roy will probably just be moved to another state and get a new name." Monroe sighed, "My boss doesn't want to send him to jail."

"Why not? Jack is dead, so there is no reason for Roy to be protected. He should pay for what he's done." Ryan said.

"Well… _achoo_! Tell that to my boss."

Ryan sighed. He hated Monroe's boss. He would do everything he could to make sure that Roy was charged for murder. He had already called Rebecca Nevins and told her to find a way. He knew that the chances of Roy getting sent to jail were slim, but he had to try.

"Alright, let's move in." Ryan said.

Within seconds the front door was kicked down and SWAT members ran inside the house. Janice was the first person they saw and she ran towards the patio door. She ran straight into Ryan as she opened the door and was quickly arrested.

"Where is Roy?" Ryan asked.

"Go to hell!" Janice growled.

Ryan and Monroe figured that Roy must have run away. The car was still in the driveway, so he must have left on foot.

"Where is the best place to hide that is somewhat close?" Monroe asked, "He was here five minutes ago."

"Well, there is a river not far from here." Ryan said.

Four SWAT members followed Ryan and Monroe to the place where the river was. It was quite big and hard to cross. Either Roy had ran another way or he had let the river take him somewhere.

"What are his chances of surviving if he jumped in the water?" Monroe asked.

"Less then 50 percent." Ryan sighed and started to walk next to the river.

He and Monroe spotted Roy in the water, holding on to a rock. The river was getting stronger and if Roy let go, he would eventually end up in deeper water and possibly drown.

"Roy you idiot!" Monroe growled, "What the hell did you do this for?"

"I'm not going to jail!" Roy yelled, "I'd rather die."

Ryan took no chances and jumped down in the water. He soon caught up with Roy and grabbed his arm. Roy bit his hand and let go off the rock.

"Roy!" Monroe yelled and jumped in the river.

He and Ryan both followed Roy and tried to keep their heads above the surface. Roy didn't struggle. He didn't care if he died or not. Ryan suddenly regretted his decision to go after Roy. He had a wife and daughter! Monroe pushed Ryan towards a rock, unfortunately it was such a hard push that Ryan hit his head and almost lost consciousness.

"Ryan, grab something!"

Ryan saw a fallen tree and grabbed it. Monroe continued after Roy, who wasn't moving anymore. Ryan pulled himself on shore and tried to run after Monroe on dry land. Monroe went under the water and tried to find something to kick himself up with. Up on dry land, Ryan ran for Roy instead, just as his body went under water. He managed to get a hold of his jacket and pulled him out of the water.

"Where's Agent Monroe?" Ryan asked the SWAT members.

"There he is!" One of them exclaimed as Monroe surfaced and took a few deep breaths.

Monroe went passed Ryan and Roy and continued down the river. He knew he couldn't hold on much longer and once again went under the surface. The SWAT members took care of the unconscious Roy, while Ryan ran after Monroe. Ryan was getting tired though, and couldn't keep up. Monroe quickly disappeared.

"Get a chopper." Ryan said as he came back to SWAT and Roy.

An ambulance had arrived and took Roy to the hospital. Ryan refused to go with them. He had a job to do.

**-I-**

**21:00**

Ryan rubbed his tired eyes as he stood behind the two-way-mirror. Inside the interrogation room was Janice Corvette. Married to Roy Corvette. Jason had identified her voice as Janice Fallon and Ryan now had to piece everything together on his own. Natalia was still with Frank at the hospital, Eric was still waiting for Horatio's surgery to be over. It would be in about an hour. Ryan was all alone with two suspects. Roy was at the hospital, with three officers watching him. He wasn't injured, just shocked and would soon spend a few days in a holding cell.

"Honey, I'm taking over." Calleigh said as she walked over to Ryan and handed him Riley.

Ryan looked in shock at his wife as he took Riley. Calleigh gave him a firm look.

"Ryan, you're tired and has handled this case alone for too long now. I suggest you get some sleep in the lab and keep Riley company." Calleigh said, "Any word on Monroe?"

"The divers haven't found his body yet." Ryan said sadly.

The chances of Monroe still being alive were so low that it wasn't even any idea to hope for it. Ryan hugged and kissed Calleigh, before she walked inside the interrogation room and sat down across from Janice. Ryan took his daughter and went to the lab. He soon fell asleep on a couch in the break room and Riley was asleep on his chest.

"Janice Corvette. I'm Dt. Calleigh Wolfe." Calleigh said, "You were called earlier today by a man named Jason and you pretended to be Janice Fallon."

"I once was Janice Fallon too. For one year." Janice said, "But I married Roy and changed my name to Corvette."

"Why did Dt. Fallon still list you as his wife?"

"Because he loved me." Janice said, "He couldn't let me go."

"Did you ever have a any children together?"

"No. Will had a son. Cameron." Janice sighed, "Cameron lives in Georgia now."

"Do you know why William took the blame for Ratner's murder?" Calleigh asked.

Janice smirked and nodded.

"Tell me." Calleigh said.

"I'm not saying another word." Janice smirked evilly.

Calleigh sighed and left the room. She was waiting for Roy. Something was wrong. She couldn't understand how the two cases were related and she wasn't likely to get any help from Janice or Roy. Cooper appeared from out of nowhere.  
"I think I may have figured it out." He smiled, "Come with me."

Calleigh followed Cooper to his lab. Cooper had photos of all the suspects in the case, including the photo of the woman that Fallon had claimed was his daughter Casey. Calleigh was confused by all of it. Cooper told her to sit down, because his explanation would probably he a bit difficult to understand and it was quite a complicated case.

"Alright. I told Rene to run Roy's blood through CODIS. Normally Roy's picture would pop up and it didn't. Instead a relative to him popped up." Cooper said, "Cassandra Corvette Anderson. Casey."

"So Fallon pretended that Casey was his daughter." Calleigh said, "Alright, what else?"

"Cassandra grew up with her mother in Orlando. She was caught shop-lifting about ten years ago and was sentenced to 23 years in prison by Ratner. Just like Fallon said."

"And then she killed herself?"

"Yes, she hung herself." Cooper said, "I also got something else. I asked the prison to send over Ratner's stuff from his cell and I found a letter. It was sent by Jackson Bernardo."

"Jack Bernard." Calleigh said.

"Exactly. I matched his writing on the letter to a letter from his house." Cooper sighed, "In the letter he tells Ratner that he wants him to find a prisoner named Daniel Banks."

"And?" Calleigh asked.

"Well, Daniel Banks is on his way here." Cooper smiled, "I don't know how yet, but I think it's connected much more than this."

"Well, it's a good start. Good job Cooper." Calleigh said and went back to the interrogation rooms just as Daniel Banks arrived.

Daniel was nervous and acted as if he didn't understand why he was being questioned by Calleigh. Calleigh stood by the door as she started the interrogation.

"Have you ever met Joseph Ratner?" She asked.

"No."

"He was told by Jack Bernard to find you in prison. My guess is that he did." Calleigh said.

"As you said… it's just a guess."

"Daniel. If you tell me everything I will make you a deal. You can have your sentenced shortened down six years." Calleigh said.

Daniel sighed and seemed to think about the offer. He nodded and the whole story just ran out of him. Everything he knew. Calleigh grinned, she knew it would help her a lot. Daniel was apparently a famous snitch in prison and heard everything that went on. After the interrogation was done, Calleigh called Rebecca Nevins while waiting for Roy to arrive.

**-I-**

**23:15**

Eric was sitting in a chair next to Horatio's bed. His first surgery was over. Horatio would have a second one within weeks if everything went well. Bryce had smiled as he had wheeled Horatio back to his room, it meant that the surgery had gone well. Yet, Horatio hadn't woken up or even showed any signs of being aware of Eric's presence.

"You don't think he got paralyzed on the right side of the face do you?" Eric asked Bryce.

"No, I don't. We didn't run into any complications and it was easier to remove then we had first thought." Bryce smiled, "He will be fine."

Eric thanked Bryce and then Bryce left. Eric kissed Horatio's cheek softly and just watched as the red head slept. After a while, the door opened and Joseph peeked inside.

"Can I come in?" He asked.

"Of course." Eric said.

Joseph smiled and sat down on the other side of the bed. He wasn't used to seeing Horatio look so sick and fragile. And neither was Eric. Joseph thought Horatio looked better already though and as soon as his energy was returned, Horatio would bother everyone with asking when he could leave and go home. Joseph had no doubt that Horatio would recover the best at home with Eric.

"What's that?" Joseph asked and pointed at the file in Eric's lap.

"Oh, nothing." Eric lied.

"Really? You seem so eager to keep it with you all the time."

"Dad… it's personal." Eric said.

Joseph nodded. He always knew that his children needed their privacy. And whatever it was, Eric was probably waiting for the right moment to talk to Horatio about it.

"You're not in any trouble are you?" Joseph asked.

"No." Eric sighed, "I'm fine dad."

"Okay, good to hear." Joseph smiled.

Joseph stayed at the hospital until Eric fell asleep with his head by Horatio's hand. Then he left to go home and get some proper sleep.

**-I-**

**23:50**

Calleigh smirked evilly as Roy shifted in the chair. He was exhausted and pissed.

"Is there anything you want to tell me?" Calleigh asked, "Or should I go ahead and tell you what I know?"

Roy remained quiet. He knew his rights and he also knew that Janice was keeping her mouth shut. Calleigh nodded and took a deep breath.

"Here is what I know." She said, "You met Janice when she had divorced William Fallon. You two got married. William had a hard time letting go of Janice. You have a daughter named Cassandra, AKA Casey."

"_Had_ a daughter." Roy snapped.

"I'm sorry. Had a daughter." Calleigh said, "Ratner was the judge that sent your daughter to jail. In jail, Ratner got a letter from Jack Bernard, who you also know, he was told to find Daniel Banks and Daniel showed him a secret way to escape in the showers. Ratner couldn't keep his mouth shut and pretended as if it was his idea and told Rick Stetler about it. Rick then took the same way as Ratner when Ratner had been found dead."

"So?"

"Daniel Banks was approached by Jack Bernard and paid ten grand to show Ratner the escape way." Calleigh said, "Once outside Ratner was supposed to meet Michelle and then Jack. Jack wanted Michelle to kill him, so that he would eliminate Ratner as a potential witness in case Jack was ever caught. What Jack didn't know was that you were already a witness for the FBI."

"I still don't get what this has to do with me." Roy smirked.

"Well, Fallon took the blame for killing Ratner for Casey, which was a lie. Why would he do that? Why would he take the blame for someone else?"

"Well, if he was alive you could ask him." Roy chuckled.

"Roy… Daniel Banks talked to Ratner many times. Ratner knew about Fallon and how he stalked Janice. I bet you didn't like it when Fallon always followed Janice around. And it must have been worse to find out that he even tried to rape her in 1999."

Calleigh showed Roy pictures of a badly beaten Janice, taken at a hospital. Janice had done a rape kit and reported being raped, but never told the police who it had been. As soon as Fallon had been told to investigate the case, Janice had dropped the charges.

"He raped her yes. Because she refused to leave me." Roy snapped.

"Janice pretended to be Fallon's wife when we called her so that she would know if Fallon had died or not. You knew Ratner was dead and that Fallon had been shot." Calleigh said, "All you and Janice waited for was to hear if he had died or not."

"This is just a theory." Roy said, "You can't prove this!"

Calleigh chuckled and put a little tape recorder on the table. She pressed play and Roy's and Fallon's voices could be heard as they argued and then made a deal with each other. Fallon had recorded had his phone calls just in case something even happened to him. He had then sent them to Cameron. Cooper had located Cameron and he had sent the recordings to Miami.

"It's very clear on this tape how you and Fallon make a deal." Calleigh said, "You blackmailed him and he blackmailed Jack."

"When Casey died ten years ago I told Fallon to kill Ratner." Roy said, "It took him ten years to set a trap."

"How did he find out about Jack and you?"

"I told him. I told him about Jack's business and the people he had killed five years ago. Fallon used it to blackmail Jack, because Jack was the only person Ratner trusted." Roy sighed, "It worked too. Jack got Ratner out of jail, but what Jack failed to tell Michelle was that Fallon had asked Jack to kill Ratner for him and to eliminate Ratner as a witness. That way, both Jack and Fallon got something good out of Ratner's death."

"But another guy got in the way." Calleigh said.

"Yeah well, not really. Fallon waited for three hours until _I_ finally killed Ratner. I did it! He just stood there and watched as Ratner faded away, he said he couldn't kill him. So I did it." Roy smirked.

"But Fallon still took the blame." Calleigh sighed.

"Yeah, I told him that since he failed to kill Ratner he had to take the blame or I would tell the police about the rape and then kill Cameron." Roy smiled, "I'm such a genius!"

"So this is all really about revenge on Ratner?" Calleigh asked, "Do you know why Ratner implanted Lt. Caine's phone number in his foot?"

"He told Jack that if he died, he wanted his death to be investigated. Michelle was _supposed_ to kill Ratner and dumb him in the ocean. Fallon was _supposed_ to kill Ratner and hide the body. I killed him and left him in the park. I thought maybe that stupid criminal, whatever his name is, would get the blame at first. Then Jack suddenly thought that you would find out about him. So he found that addict John and told him to get Ratner's body." Roy sighed.

"John escaped with Rick." Calleigh said, "So Rick and John were at the wrong place at the wrong time."

"I guess so." Roy shrugged, "Ratner wrote down the longitude and latitude of the meeting. If he hadn't done that, you cops would never had found out about his meeting with Michelle, and Rick would have died in the hands of Michelle."

"Ratner's death would have become a cold case." Calleigh said, "Then Jack made the mistake of trying to hide Ratner's body. John failed and killed a man. Then when Jack died you knew we were still looking for a murderer. So you figured that if Fallon finally stepped forward and took the blame, you and Janice could live happily ever after."

"Exactly." Roy said, "It's all so complicated, but I guess in a way we all screwed up and assumed a lot of things."

"Well, now you have amnay years in jail to think about all of this." Calleigh smirked as she left the room and met the FBI boss and Nevins outside.

"Very good Cal." Nevins smiled, "I can charge him for a lot of things, just like with Janice."

"That is if the FBI will let us." Calleigh said.

"Go ahead." The FBI boss said and left the women alone.

Nevins gave Calleigh a hug and a surprised and shocked Calleigh hugged her back. Nevins then left to make sure that Roy understood what he was being charged for as he left to spend the night in a holding cell. The interrogation had been recorded so Roy wouldn't be able to lie in court. Calleigh went to the lab and woke up her sleeping husband.

"We solved the case." Calleigh smiled and kissed him softly.

"_You_ solved the case Cal." Ryan smiled.

"No, actually I believe you and Cooper did it."

Ryan just chuckled and went home with his wife and daughter.

**-I-**

**Thursday 7****th**** August. 08:15**

"It's only been two minutes since you last asked when you could leave!" Eric chuckled.

Horatio sighed and leaned back in bed. He was finally leaving the hospital, after more than a month in the same bed and under constant check up from Bryce. His second tumour had started growing faster after three weeks and Bryce had been forced to remove it faster then expected. During the surgery Horatio had gone into cardiac arrest. Now he was fine, a little tired still, but fine. And he was going to leave the hospital!

During the last month, Eric and the team had gone to three funerals. Fallon's, Agent Monroe's and Amber's. Amber had died after 48 hours and Monroe's body had been found after 13 hours in the water. It was still sad to think about their deaths. But Eric was happy now that he and Horatio could finaly live together again and not in seperate places.

"Well, it means I'm two minutes closer to finally leaving this place." Horatio said.

The door opened and Bryce entered. He smiled widely at Eric and Horatio.

"Well, get out of here Lt." He grinned.

"Thank God!" Horatio chuckled and stood up.

He shook Bryce's hand and left quickly. Eric thanked Bryce for everything he had done and followed Horatio. Horatio was really desperate to get out of the hospital and ran towards Eric's hummer.

"Let's go to the lab." Horatio smiled as he sat down behind the wheel.

Eric knew how much Horatio had missed driving the hummer and sat down in the passenger seat.

"Actually H, there is something we have to discuss." Eric said.

Horatio knew the tone and calmed down. Eric had been wanting to talk for over a month about something serious, Horatio had seen it in his eyes. But Eric had firmly told him that he could wait until Horatio was out of the hospital. Eric gave Horatio the file that Mr. Roberts had given him several weeks ago.

"Mr. Roberts gave me this. He said it was photos of what your father and uncle did to you as a child." Eric said, "I haven't looked in the file. Because it's your decision to make if you want me to see the photos."

Horatio didn't need to open the file to know how bad the pictures were. He had already seen them once. Many years ago. He put the file in the backseat and shook his head.

"How did he get them?" He asked.

"I don't know. He gave them to me when you had your first surgery." Eric sighed, "H… I hope that one day you will tell me what it was like to grow up with your dad."

"I'm not ready…"

"I know. But one day H." Eric smiled and kissed his cheek," Mr. Roberts dropped the case two weeks ago."

"Good. I won't miss him."

"I know." Eric said, "I love you H."

"I love you too Eric. And I will tell you one day." Horatio smiled.

"Good to know." Eric smiled.

Horatio kissed him deeply and then drove to the lab. As soon as he parked the car, one of his closest friends ran to him. Valera. She shrieked and jumped up into his arms.

"I've missed you!" She smiled and hugged him tight, "We have all missed you."

Jason walked over with the triplets. Valera and Jason were leaving Miami for a while to visit Valera's parents and they wanted to see Horatio before they did.

"I've missed all of you too." Horatio smiled, "Everything good?"

"Oh yes!" Valera smiled, "Everything is fine."

Horatio nodded and gave Valera another hug. As soon as he entered the lab, he was attacked by more people who had missed him and who he had missed. They had a celebration in the break room. Horatio ate as much cake as he could and listened to all the stories about Ryan's mission as boss. Ryan had done a very good job and would continue to be boss for another week, since Bryce had ordered Horatio to stay at home and not start working so soon after leaving the hospital.

"Well, I'm glad to be back!" Horatio grinned.

"Welcome back H." Frank smiled and patted his back.

Horatio had really missed his little family at the lab. He couldn't wait to get back and work. And he never wanted to come close to a hospital again.

_**THE END!**_

**AN: Please review!**

**Here's the summary for the sequel:**

_**Eric suggests something that will change his and Horatio's lives forever. Young College graduates are kidnapped and then end up dead on a highway, and Alexx and Jason don't know how to find the COD. An old enemy to Ryan returns! And somebody close to everyone dies while saving a life. **_


End file.
